Aer Lingus ticket saga - Mess of its own making

It is no surprise that Aer Lingus had announced that it would honour the tickets for the €5 flights to the United States that it sold to up to 300 people between 7.30am and 9am on Wednesday.

What was very surprising, however, was that it took anyone more than a few minutes to realise the damage that not honouring those agreements would do to the company.

In an industry that relies so heavily on modern technology, it seems staggering that anyone would suggest that it should not have to honour its commitment due to a technical fault on its own part. Yet this is effectively what Aer Lingus did overnight.

What business would sell something and call on customers to return the item next day because it made a mistake on the price? This is effectively what Aer Lingus tried to do.

The airline has apologised “unreservedly” for the upset and inconvenience caused by suggesting the tickets would not be honoured. Yet it is still not honouring its commitment fully. People booked business class tickets but are only being offered economy-class replacements.

A great many business-class seats are empty on any flight. Those who pay full fare may regret that they did not get a bargain, but that is a fact of commercial life, especially in the airline industry.

Instead of making the best of the mistake, Aer Lingus turned the whole thing into a public relations disaster.