Cabin crew to vote on Aer Lingus draft agreement

CABIN crew at Aer Lingus are to vote in the coming days on a draft agreement which could all but end the airline’s 18-month battle to introduce a €20 million cost-saving agenda.

The agreement would allow Aer Lingus to save €5 million on top of the €10 million agreed with ground staff last week. A further €5 million will come from the airline’s pilots with whom the company is close to a deal.

If the agreement reached between Aer Lingus and IMPACT trade union, which represents the cabin crew, passes muster — and no further points of disharmony arise — it will mean the airline can go on its March roadshow to investors bearing news that the €20 million Programme for Continuous Improvement agenda has finally been implemented.

It will also be good news for Aer Lingus passengers who have been under regular threat of flight cancellation over the last 18 months as both IMPACT and SIPTU objected to the airline’s cost-cutting plans by frequently announcing days of strike action.

According to Industrial Relations News, the cabin crew changes are complex. However, the key changes that are expected to give rise to savings include:

* Agreement to reduce the number of crew on some short-haul routes.

* Measures to reduce absenteeism.

* An unspecified but small number of redundancies in the London base.

* In the case of very early starts on British provincial routes, crew will be liable to work two journeys rather than one.

* Public holidays: if a cabin crew member does not work on the day in question, they will be credited with one day’s annual leave instead of two.

IMPACT will create a document for its members before the end of the week and cabin crew members will then vote upon it.