Aer Lingus chief frustrated at unions

Aer Lingus chief executive Dermot Mannion has accused the three main union groups at the airline of frustrating attempts to introduce a range of cost-cutting measures that he says are necessary for the company's long-term survival.

Mr Mannion sent letters on Wednesday to union chiefs at Siptu, Impact and the Irish Airlines Pilots' Association (IALPA) outlining his frustration at the lack of progress on implementing a range of changes to pay and work practices.

These were unveiled last December as part of a plan called PCI-07 that Mr Mannion wanted implemented by August 1st.

He accused the unions of delaying and frustrating the change process and of demonstrating a "disregard for the dispute resolution machinery of the State".

The matter has so far been considered by the National Implementation Body, the Labour Relations Commission and the Labour Court, which issued recommendations in March.

In his letter to Siptu's national industrial secretary Michael Halpenny, Mr Mannion said: "To date, our efforts to secure a response from Siptu on many of the issues, let alone progress meaningful engagement, has been met with avoidance and silence."

He said the union had created a "procedural smokescreen" to mask a "total lack of engagement on the change agenda".

By contrast, Mr Mannion said Aer Lingus had accepted the recommendations of the Labour Court and "outlined the basis on which compensation for change can apply".

In light of this, Mr Mannion added that it was "difficult for us to envisage circumstances going forward that would justify the use of third parties in dispute resolution situations unless there is a clear commitment demonstrated that their outcome will be respected." Mr Mannion's criticisms were rejected by Mr Halpenny. "We are not frustrating the process," he said. "When we have all of the information we require then we will assess that to see what the next stage of the process is."

Mr Halpenny said his members on shift work stood to lose an average €4,500 from their annual pay as a result of the changes. "Our people are going to suffer a lot," he said.

In his letter to IALPA, Mr Mannion accused the pilots' union of ignoring recommendations in a report produced by Phil Flynn, which centres around a deal to fly anywhere. Aer Lingus has accepted Mr Flynn's recommendations.

Evan Cullen, IALPA's chief executive, rejected the suggestion that the pilots had not engaged fully in the process.

He said the union hoped to ballot members at "some stage" next week with proposals."There is no other group in Aer Lingus that has demonstrated a commitment to the future independence of the airline than the pilots." This is a reference to the heavy share buying by pilots following Ryanair's attempted takeover.