Workers’ fury at uncertainty over jobs

WORKERS reacted angrily last night to news that 44 jobs were to be axed at Shannon after its lucrative Heathrow route was scrapped.

Many expressed outrage, asking chief executive Dermot Mannion how they could continue to pay mortgages and provide for families.

After the meeting in the old Great Southern Hotel, cabin crew manager John O’Shea said workers were left in the dark about the future of their jobs.

“Mr Mannion avoided any questions about the future of the base, which is upsetting for the people that are working here and have put their lives into it. The future of Aer Lingus at Shannon? We don’t know that beyond the next six months,” he said.

Mr Mannion refused to explain why no schedule was listed for Shannon next summer when they have been declared for both Cork and Dublin.

Questions turned to the viability of Shannon Airport. Chief executive Pat Shanahan said the move was disappointing but it would continue to look for alternative business to hubs, including Heathrow, Paris and Amsterdam.

“We are concerned with the withdrawal of this route, which has performed extremely well over many decades.

“We believe operating this route remains a highly attractive proposition for an airline and the airport authority will make every effort to replace this business as quickly as possible,” he said.

The Department of Transport remained silent but the opposition was united in its criticism of the announcement.

Labour’s Limerick East TD Jan O’Sullivan said she could not understand why the routes were being axed.

“The decision is very difficult to understand, given that the Shannon to Heathrow route is a very profitable one, attracting 320,000 passengers a year. That represents 10% of the throughput of Shannon and it is not at all clear whether this capacity can now be filled by other airlines.”

Concerns have been raised about the continued investment in the Atlantic corridor economic area, with Dublin and Cork offering the only other links to Heathrow in the Republic.

Chairman of the American Chamber in the mid-west Bill Doherty said the economic environment in the region had been undermined.

“This will impact not only on direct jobs in Shannon Airport, it has the potential to result in job losses throughout the mid-west and west of Ireland as companies re-evaluate their investment decisions in the region,” he said.

Limerick Chamber chief executive Maria Kelly said it will make the region dramatically more inaccessible to potential investors.

“This will make the Limerick-Galway corridor less attractive to foreign direct investment and make it more costly and difficult for indigenous industry to develop international markets.”