Aer Lingus dispute - Everyone is losing

THE transition from comfortable semi-state company to a hard-nosed commercial entity has not been easy for Aer Lingus.

There have been regular confrontations and a whole series of strike threats. There is too the question of the position the revenue commissioners will take on the redundancy deal used to smooth the way for new arrangements at the company.

The current stand-off seems particularly fraught and no one’s interests, the staff’s, the company’s or travellers’, interests are being served. It is worrying too that the company might turn its back on established mediation mechanisms though the unions must realise that this process must be finite. As it stands everyone is a loser.