TEAM `letters of comfort' on agenda

Employees of TEAM Aer Lingus will be told today that a limited opportunity exists to secure the future of the troubled aircraft maintenance company. But in return they will have to surrender the "letters of comfort" which guarantee most of them the right to return to the parent company, Aer Lingus, in the event of TEAM closing.

Mr Gary McGann, the chief executive of Aer Lingus, will attempt to rebuild bridges with the workforce, when he addresses a mass meeting in the ALSAA (Aer Lingus Sports Association) hall near Dublin airport this morning. He is expected to tell them that the opportunity of finding a strategic partner now exists, but will only last two or three months at most.

He is also expected to say that no heads of agreement are likely with potential investors unless three industrial relations problems are resolved. These are the "letters of comfort" that around 1,200 of the 1,600-strong workforce hold as former employees of Aer Lingus; Aer Lingus retaining its majority shareholding in TEAM; and pay relativity between TEAM and other Aer Lingus employees.

The issue of buying out the "letters of comfort" has been well flagged in the media, with figures of £5,000 to £20,000 per employee being mentioned. TEAM employees can, technically, demand re-employment with Aer Lingus. They can even take the company to court for breach of contract.

But the reality is that this would defer, rather than avert, redundancy and the terms offered by Aer Lingus might be less favourable. The present alternative is to accept a generous "buy-out" of the letters and still retain a job in a restructured TEAM.

Mr McGann is likely to point out that no strategic investor is likely to be attracted to TEAM while Aer Lingus retains its controlling interest. Aer Lingus management will be seeking agreement from the unions to its selling a potential investor more than 50 per cent of the company, and possibly all of it.

Finally, Mr McGann is expected to point out that, in the event of the "letters of comfort" being bought out and Aer Lingus ceasing to be the majority shareholder in the company, the long-standing claim by TEAM unions to pay parity between TEAM workers and those in Aer Lingus would no longer be sustainable.

Potential investors have been identified by reliable industry sources as BF Goodrich, the front-runner, and UPS, the other serious bidder.