Acting chief executive Colm Barrington is a man in a hurry, writes CIARAN HANCOCK

IT IS less than a fortnight since Dermot Mannion cleared his desk at Aer Lingus, yet acting chief executive Colm Barrington appears to be wasting no time in putting his own stamp on the business.

Yesterday Barrington confirmed that all costs at the business were being reviewed and he won’t be waiting for a successor to be appointed before taking action.

“We are looking at everything from top to bottom,” he said.

This includes possibly axing routes, with loss-making, long-haul services to the US under most threat. The planned expansion of the fleet is set to be put on hold as the airline struggles to survive the global recession and its impact on travel. “We are looking at the cost of everything. The world is a very different place now.”

Mannion’s departure was hastened by the revelation that the airline was burning cash at a rate of knots. It could be as low as €400 million by the end of this year – roughly half the level of June 2008 – as it pays for fleet replacement and redundancy costs.

A month ago Aer Lingus told the market it could record an operating loss of €55 million this year.

Barrington described the current environment for airlines as “horrific”, and said the “swingeing” tax increases in last week’s Budget “would have a huge impact in Ireland”.

In spite of the huge strides that Aer Lingus has made in recent years in slashing its cost base and reshaping itself as a low-cost carrier, Barrington said it needs to do more. “Our prices are too high and people are telling us that.”

He said Aer Lingus has to “substantially meet” Ryanair’s aggressive pricing strategy. That said, Mr Barrington believes that passengers appreciate Aer Lingus’s customer service culture.

Aer Lingus last week launched a base at Gatwick airport near London, a key part of its plan to diversify its income stream away from Ireland. Barrington said bookings have been encouraging.

“The bookings are pretty good; they are on target,” he said. “I’m not sure where we are on yields [average fare] yet.”

Its about 16 months since it launched a base at Belfast and Aer Lingus’s acting boss is hopeful that 2009 will see it reach breakeven point, as per the original plan.

“Revenues in 2008 were probably a little less than we had expected. As of now, the bookings [out of Belfast] are on track to break even.”

Barrington described Aer Lingus’s long-haul services to the US as “a challenge” in the current economic climate.

“Yields are way down and traffic is down,” he said.

While the traditionally busy summer months will prove “cash positive” for the airline, “we will be looking at what we might do in the autumn”.

Barack Obama talked this week of there being green shoots of an economic recovery. “I hope he’s right but that’s going to take a year or two to filter down to us [in Ireland].”

Barrington said further job cuts could not be ruled out, and said the days of workers walking away with sizeable redundancy payments were over.

“The problem is that we are not in a position to pay out big redundancy packages any more. The days when people left with a big wedge of money in their back pockets are over.”

Barrington said he would meet unions head-on if necessary to implement any changes necessary to secure the future of Aer Lingus.

“If we’ve got to take on industrial relations strikes then we’ve got to take on IR strikes.”

He said the latest cost-containment plan was “nearly completed” and would be discussed at its next board meeting in early May.

Barrington, who became Aer Lingus chairman last October, said the airline cannot afford to wait for a new CEO to be appointed first.

“With the best will in the world, it is going to take us several months to get another chief executive,” he said. “We could be talking anywhere between two and six months.”

“All the Paddy Power stuff is speculation,” Mr Barrington said, adding the airline doesn’t even have a “long list” of candidates yet.

One name that won’t be on the list is Barrington’s.

“I’ve told management that I’m not in the running. I’m too old. It’s a young person’s job.”