The image of Aer Lingus and Ireland has been tarnished by the pilots' dispute, writes Joe Humphreys
Any further disruption to Aer Lingus services could jeopardise the bookings of up to 20,000 visitors to Ireland this month, the acting chief executive of Bord Fáilte has warned.
Mr Niall Reddy said a recent trend in the industry towards late bookings made a resolution of what he described as a "hugely damaging dispute" all the more urgent. "Because of the late booking pattern this year, it [the dispute] puts at risk bookings for the peak season. People will not book a destination where there is uncertainty."
Referring to an estimate for the number of visitors due to fly to Ireland with Aer Lingus this month, he added: "Up to 20,000 overseas tourists could be affected for the month of June."
The late-booking trend has been fuelled by technological changes in the industry, including the greater use of Internet bookings by individuals. A late surge in bookings this year has also been attributed to renewed confidence in the airline industry after September 11th.
A Bord Fáilte spokesman noted bookings from the US were now being made with as little as two weeks notice. "There's a lot of business to be got at short notice, and if people get a message that the national airline is not flying they will book elsewhere. It's a question of signals going out to the world trade."
He added that many people in tourism had been "banking" on late bookings to help them recover from losses incurred last year when a combination of problems, including an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, hit the industry.
Echoing this view, the chief executive of the Irish Travel Agents Association, Mr Brendan Moran, said the tourism industry could "ill-afford" last Thursday's strike, nor this weekend's disruption at the national airline.
He said: "It's wrong to use the strike method as an industrial relations tool given the perilous state of the tourism business. But, having said that, for the management of Aer Lingus to take the action they did without having taken some arrangements in our view lacked due care and diligence.
"A bank holiday weekend, an exceptionally busy time, when many people are travelling home to their families, is the wrong time - not that there is any right time - to take this action."
An estimated 80,000 Aer Lingus passengers over four days have been affected by the dispute. Passengers on next week's Aer Lingus services were still waiting last night for news on whether their flights would go ahead as scheduled.
Regarding the cost of the dispute to the industry, Mr Moran remarked: "Aer Lingus says it's losing €2 million a day from the dispute. Well, you could multiply that figure by a factor of 10 for the economy as a whole."
Mr Moran said there was "a great deal of anger" among travel agents who had been forced to deal with refunds, rescheduling and other inconveniences.
Some agents are considering taking legal action against Aer Lingus for failing to honour tickets in the absence of an official strike.
Aer Lingus's policy, like that of other airlines, is to refund the price of its ticket but not the cost of additional travel or disruption.
A US-based tour operator, Mr David Kilroy, said he had consulted a solicitor, however, "who told me categorically if this goes to litigation Aer Lingus will have to pay up. I don't think Aer Lingus can protect itself by saying this is a strike because it's not a strike."
Mr Kilroy said 52 of his clients, who were due to travel back to the US with Aer Lingus this weekend, had been stranded by the dispute.
He has spent up to $4,000 (€4,260) arranging extra buses, ferries to Britain, and onward coaches to Birmingham for flight connections.
"Some of the people with us are worried about getting back to work. Americans have only two weeks holidays a year and if you spend two to three days of that stranded in an airport, you'll be paying out of your pocket," he said.
"I would be reluctant to book with Aer Lingus again. I know these people had a great time in Ireland but this has put a big cloud over the experience. It does change the image of Ireland."
Like many travel agents, Mr Kilroy criticised a perceived lack of information and assistance from Aer Lingus. "They have been totally unresponsive. Whatever the merits of the dispute with the pilots, Aer Lingus have been almost belligerent in their attitude to passengers and agents."