The fallout from the sudden closure of regional airline Jetmagic is set to cost between 20 and 30 jobs at Servisair, the airport baggage and cargo-handling firm.
The company is planning to lay off the workers at Jetmagic's former base, Cork Airport, as a direct result of the airline's closure. Mr John Pearson, a local SIPTU branch secretary, the union that represents the workers, told The Irish Times last night that Servisair is seeking the lay off of 20-plus temporary workers.
The union met management yesterday to discuss the proposals. Mr Pearson said that SIPTU would make every effort to preserve as many jobs as possible, and had asked the company to look at all possible ways of doing this. Union officials will meet workers today to discuss the situation with them.
"We had a meeting with Servisair management today and looked at all possible ways and means of retaining the maximum number of people," Mr Pearson said. He added that this could be achieved through changes in the company's current structure and operations at Cork Airport.
Jetmagic shut down suddenly on Wednesday night, leaving 400 passengers without return flights from a number of airports. The closure cost its backers €11 million, and resulted in the loss of 100 jobs in the firm itself. It is understood the defunct airline owes its creditors €3.5 million.
Yesterday, the chairman of the Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Mr Eoin Ryan TD, told The Irish Times that he would ask the committee to approve a motion to call the airline's management before it to explain Jetmagic's closure, and question them about the fact that it continued to sell tickets up to 8.30 pm on the night it announced its closure.
Mr Ryan said that the committee would also begin exploring the possibility of introducing a bonding system for airlines. Currently, tour operators are obliged to pay the Commission for Aviation Regulation (CAR) a bond. This is used to compensate customers who loose out if a tour operator goes out of business. That does not apply to airlines.
"Last year, we said it would be only a matter of time before something like this (the Jetmagic failure) happened," he said. "What I am suggesting is that we look at the area of bonding airlines and that we invite the various people involved in this situation to explain how it came about."
