Trade union Fórsa said it wants additional income supports for aviation workers after Aer Lingus announced it’s permanently closing its base in Shannon, where 81 cabin crew are based.
he airline said that it had 45 ground staff at Shannon, who “will continue to be laid off”.
The move comes just days after the Government signalled that no broader financial support beyond existing avenues would be made available to the carrier, which is part of the IAG group that also owns British Airways, Iberia and Vueling.
On Monday, the Cabinet also ditched a planned discussion on easing foreign travel restrictions that was due to be held yesterday.
The aviation sector has railed against what it sees as Government inaction, despite the continuing rollout of Covid vaccination programmes here and abroad, and the devastating impact the pandemic has had on the industry.
Aer Lingus also announced yesterday that it’s temporarily closing its base at Cork airport from September until November, impacting about 60 ground staff and 138 cabin crew.
The runway at Cork airport is due to close in the autumn for a major upgrade.
Earlier this month, IAG reported that Aer Lingus had made a €103m loss in the first quarter of the year. It made a €361m loss last year.
“Aer Lingus staff were today advised that the cumulative impact of the crisis over the last 15 months means immediate actions and structural changes are required at the airline,” a statement from the carrier said. “The airline must be more cost-efficient and productive in order to generate the cash required to rebuild its financial health.”
It added: “Aer Lingus confirmed to staff that the airline will emerge smaller from the pandemic and there will be a requirement for redundancies.”
The airline has already let go almost 600 staff. It employed 5,000 people at the end of last June.
Aer Lingus chief executive Lynne Embleton said this month that the airline was in talks with the Government regarding funding for the carrier. It has already received a €150m loan from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund.
“Here we are four or five months later, the €150m was really to deal with the old situation,” said Ms Embleton this month. “We find ourselves in a more difficult situation now.”
But last week, Junior Minister Hildergarde Naughton said any supports accessed by Aer Lingus would be on a commercial basis, effectively ruling out any direct intervention.
“The Government needs to decide if the crisis in this vital industry is to be permanent or temporary,” said the head of Fórsa’s services and enterprises division, Ashley Connolly.
“Only the State has the power and resources to preserve Ireland’s vital international connectivity – the connectivity that supports thousands of businesses and hundreds of thousands of jobs – over the coming months, and possibly years,” she said.