Employee shareholders to call EGM after withdrawal decision

ONE of the biggest shareholders in Aer Lingus is to hold an extraordinary general meeting amid member fears over the financial savvy of the decision to withdraw from the Shannon-Heathrow route.

The Aer Lingus Employee Share Ownership Trust (ESOT) is expected to consider uniting with other shareholders in demanding a reversal on the decision, on which it was not consulted.

The employees holds an almost 15% stake and are one of the biggest shareholders, after Ryanair and the Government.

It is deeply concerned that there was no consultation either with itself as a shareholder or with Shannon workers before the decision to pull out of the mid-west airport was taken.

IMPACT deputy general secretary and chairman of ESOT, Shay Cody, has been asked to convene the EGM as a result.

One ESOT member told the Irish Examiner: “The concern we have is that this was a major decision upon which we should have been consulted yet management just made it as an operational decision regardless of the consequences.”

The source said that as part of the IPO process, management gave a commitment that future bases would not take the place of existing locations and any decisions affecting the Heathrow slots would not be taken in advance of discussions with the Government.

The source said the ESOT board must consider cooperating with other shareholders as there appeared to be a consensus among most that Aer Lingus’ credibility and reputation had been greatly tarnished by the way this situation had been handled.

He said the Aer Lingus decision could lead to financial consequences for the shareholders of the airline. No date has been set for the EGM.

Michael O’Leary of Ryanair said his airline was willing to sit down with other shareholding groups.

“Bertie Ahern’s government blatantly lied last year about preserving Aer Lingus’s connections between Shannon and Heathrow, while Ryanair, in its proposal to acquire Aer Lingus, committed to maintain the existing Aer Lingus routes to Heathrow.

“Surely it’s not too much to ask Bertie to take five seconds out of his holidays to respond to Ryanair’s offer to work with other shareholders in Aer Lingus to preserve these jobs and these flights for Shannon and the west of Ireland.”