Airline talks - Reform comes very slowly

YESTERDAY, as SIPTU took what may be one of its final stands in its rearguard action against modernisation at Aer Lingus, the announcement of a merger of two of the world’s biggest airlines underlined the challenges facing that industry.

America’s Delta and Northwest became partners because they could not survive in isolation. America’s airline industry lost a staggering $35bn in the five years to 2006. Those losses were incurred before oil prices soared — jet fuel prices jumped 90% in the past year.

Aer Lingus is buying new aircraft and unit costs have been reduced to a level that bares realistic comparison with some of its competitors.

A small country on the edge of a continent is especially dependent on secure and affordable air links and that is why Aer Lingus needs to get its house in order.

Air travel is a vital component of a functioning economy and unions should not threaten a strike in any but the direst of circumstances; those circumstances have not yet been reached. The other side of that coin is that Aer Lingus must recognise that there has been a considerable reform and that more will come as long as it is introduced in a fair and professional manner.