The board of Aer Lingus is to hold a special meeting on Monday "to consider the company performance in the light of the general trading environment, the impact on travel of the foot-and-mouth outbreak and the general industrial relations environment".
The decision comes as almost 20,000 passengers find themselves stranded today for the second time in eight days by a 24-hour strike of ground staff.
Company sources were at pains last night to emphasise that the decision by the chairman, Mr Bernie Cahill, to call a special board meeting on Monday did not mean the State airline was facing a financial crisis.
However, they accepted that the series of strikes over pay was "increasingly damaging business and eroding customer loyalty" in the present adverse economic climate.
It also indicates Aer Lingus is coming under increasing pressure from the Government to put its house in order, as the fifth strike since October begins this morning.
Yesterday, in the Dail, the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, said she was very concerned that Aer Lingus could "rapidly find itself in another financial crisis" if "sense and restraint" were not applied in the current industrial dispute.
There was no doubt Aer Lingus was "lurching from crisis to crisis" and, she added, it could not go on like this. During a Dail special notice debate on the 24-hour strike she told the Opposition there was an "alarming" drop in the level of advance bookings for the airline and each day of strike action was costing the company between £2 million and £3 million. It was also undermining the company's image, Ms O'Rourke said.
She called on the management and unions to rapidly settle all the outstanding issues, but added it would be a recipe for chaos for her to intervene in a wage dispute about the level of pay and conditions for any one group.
The Labour Court is expected to intervene in the dispute again next week, in an attempt to avert the next 24-hour strike on Thursday. There are no plans by SIPTU at this stage to escalate the dispute over the Easter bank holiday.
The Irish Times website ireland.com will carry flight information and updated news on the Aer Lingus strike today at: www.ireland.com