THE GOVERNMENT will not seek to block plans by Aer Lingus to make about 230 members of cabin crew redundant on a compulsory basis.

Aer Lingus management said yesterday it was introducing the compulsory redundancy plan for the cabin crew after they voted against a €97 million restructuring plan at the airline.

This announcement followed an extraordinary meeting of the Aer Lingus board yesterday. The board is believed to have unanimously backed this course of action.

About 440 other members of staff are to leave the airline on a voluntary basis in accordance with the terms of the cost-saving plan.

The trade union, Impact, which represents most of the cabin crew, is to meet management today to discuss the company’s plans.

It said last night it would then consult members in Dublin, Cork and Shannon over the coming days.

Aer Lingus chief executive Christoph Mueller said the airline would respect the decision by four other groups at the airline – pilots, middle management, ground operations personnel and craft workers – to back the cost-saving programme which involved voluntary redundancies, pay cuts and work practice changes.

The airline will implement the terms of the cost-saving deal as agreed by the other groups.

However, he said there could be “no sweetheart deal for cabin crew” and there would be no re-ballotting on the issue.

“We have turned all the stones,” Mr Mueller said.

Mr Mueller met Transport Minister Noel Dempsey prior to the announcement of the compulsory redundancies at the airline.

The company yesterday also wrote to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to notify it of its intention to make 230 staff compulsorily redundant.

In a statement last night the Department of Transport stated: “The Government is satisfied, from all of the information available to it, that a major restructuring of the group’s cost base is essential if Aer Lingus is to survive.

“The cost base of Aer Lingus is seriously out of line with that of its competitors. Airlines throughout the world are either rationalising or going out of business as a result of the global economic downturn.

“The Government wants to see a strong, viable Aer Lingus in the future. The cornerstones of Government aviation policy are competitiveness and connectivity. A viable Aer Lingus is key to ensuring the achievement of these objectives.”

Sources close to Aer Lingus said the airline had not yet decided what terms it would offer those targeted for compulsory redundancy. It could simply pay them their statutory entitlement or it could offer them the same terms as under the voluntary leaving scheme.

Impact said its priority now was to consult cabin crew members in order to agree how best to move forward. However, it acknowledged that the available time to broker a solution was extremely limited.

Aer Lingus said it was seeking €20 million in cost savings from cabin crew.

Impact said suggestions that cabin crew had sought, or were somehow seeking, a “sweetheart deal” are both wrong and extremely unhelpful.

The union said the development presented “a very serious challenge to cabin crew workers; however, the union will continue to make efforts to secure jobs and working conditions.

“The union had recommended the cost saving proposals on the basis that they would have minimised job losses, and help sustain the future of the airline. But Impact also acknowledged that aspects of the cost-saving proposals would be very difficult for members to accept.”