AER LINGUS has told its pilots operating long-haul services that they will have to work longer than the approximate 600 hours they fly a year. In a letter sent to the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association last week, the airline’s chief financial officer Seán Coyle said that last year pilots’ average earnings, taking all remuneration into account, was just under €150,000.
However, he said top-earning pilots were paid almost €300,000.
“When you include the extremely generous company contribution to the pilots’ pension scheme, the average cost of a pilot is €190,000 and the top pilots’ cost is just short of €400,000. The top-earning pilots are all flying long-haul and while they enjoy upper decile remuneration globally, they still only fly an average of just over 600 hours a year. Clearly in the current climate, this cannot continue,” he said.
Mr Coyle said he was appealing to the association to reconsider its focus and priorities and engage with the company on addressing areas of uncompetitiveness.
Industry sources said Aer Lingus was unhappy at the pace of negotiations with pilots on delivering €3 million in savings as part of an overall €50 million cost-containment programme announced last year in the airline.
However, the association said last night it had agreed to enter into a process on the cost savings under the aegis of the Labour Relations Commission. It said it was always available for discussions subject to its key personnel being released from flying duties.
It is understood that Aer Lingus is also unhappy with the association forging links with pilots in the US which it fears could undermine a new joint venture agreement with United Airlines.
The association’s sources said it had signed a protocol with pilots at the US airline to ensure the new arrangement would not be used to damage the interest of both parties. Mr Coyle, in his letter, said that he was at a loss to understand the association’s recent attitude to the airline’s growth plans.
“It is very disappointing that our exciting growth plans in Europe and the US are being spun as a threat to pilots. We are not seeking to undermine Irish pilots or jobs through the announcement of these ventures, and are trying to ensure we move to a strong profitable Aer Lingus, which is not solely reliant on a declining Irish market place.
“Reducing our dependence on the Irish market is in all our interests and is the only way to guarantee our future job security”, he said. Mr Coyle said the challenge facing Aer Lingus on long-haul services was relevant given its size.
He said the relationship with United Airlines provided it with a strong global partner for a profitable relationship in the future.
“Our vision is to grow Aer Lingus as an important inter-national company with a similar global status to CRH or Kerry Group. The use of joint-venture structures and partnerships is not unusual by Irish companies developing new markets,” he said.
