The Board of Aer Lingus has this evening approved a cost-cutting plan which will see the airline shed a reported 1,300 jobs.
Exact details of the plan have not been made public but indications suggest the company wants to cut the workforce by a quarter and outsource certain functions as part of its move to a low-cost airline model.
In a short statement tonight, the Board said it had "approved a three-year business plan for the airline which details strategic, commercial and financial actions essential to ensure the continuing viability and growth of the business in the highly competitive, low-fares environment."
The airline noted that the company is performing well and on course to achieve its operating profit target of €95 million for 2004.
Impact and Siptu, the two biggest unions at the airline, yesterday criticised the scale of the job cuts and said they would oppose any attempt to enforce redundancies.
Their suspicions have been sharpened by the recent emergence of a management proposal to buy out the company.
Responding to the reports yesterday, Siptu general president Mr Jack O'Connor said the union recognised the need for further restructuring at the company but questioned the "the purpose and objective of the radical cost cutting envisaged".
He said: "We are committed to the objective of continuing to develop a viable airline which serves the interests of our economy and our society [but] we have no interest in facilitating the enhancement of the wealth of a few individuals or participating in rationalisation plans for the sole purpose of preparing the company for privatisation for its own sake."
But the unions' position is complicated by their proposal to increase the workers' shareholding at the company from 4.6 per cent to almost 15 per cent. Management have insisted they will not agree to the proposal unless a new restructuring is agreed.
The Sunday Business Post, yesterday reported the airline's chief executive, Mr Willie Walsh, will today reveal a plan to reduce the company's workforce from 4,000 to 2,700 over the next three years.
The report says the plan proposes cutting cabin crew numbers from 1,061 to 770, with a further 450 jobs cut from check-in and baggage-handling services.
The airline's catering and cleaning services would be outsourced under the plan, reducing the workforce by a further 280. The remainder of the job cuts will be from operations at the State's three main airports at Dublin, Cork, and Shannon, the newspaper said.
Aer Lingus reported a €96 million profit last year.