Cabin fever as Aer Lingus dispute brews

FOR almost a decade Aer Lingus passengers lived with the all-to-frequent threat of strikes as management tried to peel away legacy terms and conditions enjoyed by staff in order to create a leaner, more efficient airline able to compete with the likes of Ryanair.

Baggage handlers earning up to €110,000 or staff earning overtime for doing no work — these were the types of work practices which the airline said it needed to eradicate in order to keep itself from crashing out of existence.

After rolling out various cost-saving programmes, management succeeded in riding out storms of industrial relations unrest with relatively little disruption to passengers. In almost every dispute, third-party intervention staved off the action which could potentially have kept its whole fleet of planes grounded.