Aer Lingus has interviewed its chief operations officer, Mr Willie Walsh, for the position of chief executive.

As the airline moved to end its Balitmore/Washington and Newark routes to the US, it emerged that Mr Walsh was approached to sit an interview when the former Glanbia executive, Mr Ned Sullivan, turned down the position.

Aer Lingus also cancelled its Dublin-Stockholm routes, in addition to Shannon-Paris and Shannon-Belfast. It reduced capacity on routes between Dublin and Shannon, London City, Glasgow, Paris and Amsterdam.

Mr Walsh did not apply for the post at the troubled State airline when it became vacant after Mr Michael Foley was sacked this summer when a board subcommittee upheld two sexual harassment complaints against him.

However, he was approached in the past fortnight when the recruitment process was effectively restarted. It is thought that all of those already interviewed by a board subcommittee have been ruled out.

Mr Sullivan indicated unwillingness to take the post in the days after hijacked planes smashed into the World Trade Centre and Pentagon. Those attacks prompted a massive slump in ticket sales throughout the industry globally, forcing Aer Lingus to cancel 25 per cent of its schedule.

This puts almost 1,900 temporary and permanent jobs at risk, although no definitive decision on redundancies will be taken until the next meeting of the airline's board towards the end of next month.

It is thought a redundancy programme could cost £100-£150 million, although the airline argues it cannot afford such expenditure. It is expected to approach the Government, though that may be ruled out under EU competition rules.

In refusing the job, it is thought Mr Sullivan also cited the resignation of the airline's chief financial officer, Mr John O'Donovan, who left to join Bank of Ireland.

Mr O'Donovan, who was made acting chief executive after Mr Foley was dismissed, indicated to the board that he did not want to apply. He would have been considered favourite if he did.