Aer Lingus management will shortly reveal details of a restructuring plan to reduce its workforce by a quarter in a bid to attain a cost-base similar to budget operators, it has been reported this morning.
According to today's Sunday Business Post, the airline's chief executive Mr Willie Walsh will present a second business plan to reduce the company's workforce from 4,000 to 2,700 over the next three years.
The report says that under the plan the number of cabin crew will drop from 1,061 to 770 with a further 450 jobs cut from check-in and baggage handling services
The airline's catering services 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.
Union response to the plan is likely to be frosty with Aer Lingus on target to report of €96 million in profits this year.
The airline averted collapse following a survival plan in 2001 which required 2,000 redundancies. The Mr Walsh has also submitted a management buyout plan to the Minister for Transport which the Cabinet will consider in September.