Aer Lingus and pilots given plan to save 400 jobs

UP to 400 of the 1,065 jobs that Aer Lingus threatened to axe at the end of last year look set to be saved thanks to the intervention of a third party arbitrator.

Throughout the latter half of 2009, Aer Lingus discussed various ways of achieving the €97 million savings management said was required by next year to keep the airline operating.

Management first proposed 676 job losses from across its operations but primarily focused on pilots and cabin crew. It also sought an average 10% pay cut for staff whose basic salary exceeded €35,000 a year.