Shannon ground staff to be reduced to five

A SKELETON staff of fewer than five Aer Lingus ground personnel will remain at Shannon airport as part of the company's plans…

A SKELETON staff of fewer than five Aer Lingus ground personnel will remain at Shannon airport as part of the company's plans to close its cabin crew base and outsource ground-handling at the airport, it was confirmed yesterday.

Currently, the airport employs 280 staff at Shannon with 160 employed in cabin crew and the remaining 120 in ground operations.

Enda Corneille, Aer Lingus's director for corporate affairs, said "a small team" of fewer than five employees would remain to serve its US routes as part of its cost-cutting plan. An additional "small number" would continue working in maintenance at Shannon.

Cabin crew at the airport are to offered redeployment to Cork and Dublin, but Mr Corneille said "limited redevelopment" would be on offer to the Shannon-based staff.

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan is a contributor to The Irish Times