Plea to unions to reconsider IAG offer

The chairman of Aer Lingus has appealed to trade unions at the airline to reconsider their opposition to the proposed sale of the company.

Colm Barrington, who has chaired the company’s board since 2008, said the sale to International Airlines Group (IAG) would bring more jobs to Aer Lingus and greater connectivity with Heathrow and other key landing slots.

“If anybody is really interested in connectivity and jobs regarding Aer Lingus they should support this deal wholeheartedly because it’s fantastic for connectivity and it’s very, very good for jobs,” he told RTÉ.

His call came as Minister for Transport Pascal Donohoe said he wanted the matter concluded within weeks, but stressed once again that IAG needed to improve its assurances on retaining the Heathrow slots for Aer Lingus before a deal could be considered.

Mr Barrington said the concerns over the Heathrow slots were excessive as it made good business sense for Aer Lingus and any new buyer to retain them.

“People seem to forget that Ireland-UK is one of the busiest international air corridors in the world,” he said.

“Aer Lingus doesn’t operate from Dublin and Shannon and Cork to Heathrow because we’re a social service carrier, because the Government makes us do it. We operate because we make money on those routes and we would continue to make more money on those routes when we’re connected into the IAG network.”

Minister for State at the Department of Finance Simon Harris echoed Mr Barrington’s sense of urgency over the deal when he said the Government needed to consider the implications of not agreeing to sell.

He welcomed Pascal Donohoe’s move to put a deadline on discussions and said the Government was right to ensure the best deal was on the table.

However, he added: “We also have to consider should the Government not accept this offer, where will the airline, which we have a 25% stake in and considering we are an island nation, where will it find itself in five, 10, 15 and 20 years?

“It has to be looked at from both ends. It has to be looked at from the risk of not accepting a deal, from not selling.”

IAG, which is one of the world’s biggest airline companies, owning British Airways, Iberia and others, has been pushing its takeover offer since December.

Ryanair, which is the biggest shareholder in Aer Lingus, owning a 30% stake, is not opposed to the deal, but the Government, which has retained a 25% stake on behalf of the State since the airline was privatised in 2006, has been holding out.

Labour is opposed, partly on principle and partly over concerns that job losses could follow the sale, while Fine Gael has no great principled objection, but is not yet sufficiently impressed by the details of the €1.36bn deal.

Both parties are also aware of the political sensitivity of letting go of the national stake, in what is still regarded as the national airline, and will have to face down trade union anger if the deal goes through.

Mr Barrington declined to comment on speculation that IAG might have to promise some of the Aer Lingus slots to Ryanair in order to seal the deal to buy out Ryanair’s share. “That’s between IAG and Ryanair,” he said.