Aer Lingus prepares for talks

Aer Lingus pilots are prepared to return to talks with management immediately to on the detailed implementation of a €30 million cost-savings package which was agreed yesterday.

Some 65 per cent of Aer Lingus pilots accepted the proposals of arbitrator Kieran Mulvey, which will result in 76 redundancies and a 10 per cent pay cut, but there are still outstanding issues over pensions, outsourcing and increments.

President of the Irish Airline Pilots' Association Evan Cullen told RTÉ's Morning Ireland that the issue had caused much debate among pilots before agreement was reached.

"I think we've always shown our ability to invest in the future of the company and it was clear to us and our independent financial advisers who had a look at the books of aer Lingus a number of months ago that we had to give assistance to the company during the current economic crisis," he said.

"It's clear from the report that it's a work in progress, there wasn't finality on a number of aspects in the report. The pilots felt they could not and would not sign up to something that they didn't have clear visibility on."

He said the problems were not insurmountable, and said Ialpa was willing to engage immediately with the company on both these issues and the detail of implementing the plan, which he said was not detailed enough.

Aer Lingus welcomed the pilots' acceptance of the plan and said it has already invited Ialpa to take part in talks on the final aspects of the arbitration, with the goal of reaching agreement by January 21st.

Talks between Aer Lingus and the pilots broke down before Christmas, and led to employers' body Ibec and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions requesting that both sides commit to an independent arbitration process chaired by Mr Mulvey.

However, Mr Cullen called on the airline to provide clarity on the airline's future direction, saying there was mixed messages from management. He said Aer Lingus management would also have to deliver on the revenue growth plan.

"Over the next five years, pilots will invest €150 million of their money in the future of this company and we're demanding that Aer Lingus roll out the future," he said.

"There are mixed messages from management. We're being told on one hand that we're a low-cost point to point carrier, yet on the other hand we know there are discussions to drag us into a hub and spoke type carrier with the bigger alliance. We need clarity around this. we need clarity on the future, and certainly €150 million entitles us to that clarity."

Aer Lingus is seeking to reduce its annual overheads by €97 million and cut its total workforce by 676.

Shares in Aer Lingus rose 6.2 per cent to 73 cent on the Dublin market this afternoon.