Aer Lingus said this afternoon it is to seek 230 compulsory redundancies among cabin crew.
The airline's chief executive Christoph Mueller said this afternoon he had informed the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment of the plan to introduce the redundancy arrangements. He said 30-day notice had been served.
The Aer Lingus board's decision to implement the redundancies was unanimous.
Mr Mueller said there would be no "sweetheart deals for cabin crew."
He indicated the company would press ahead with the implementation of its €97 million restructuring plan for the four other union groups which have agreed to the airline's proposal.
Cabin crew, represented mainly by Impact, rejected the restructuring plan in a ballot, while craft workers, pilots and clerical staff voted in favour. The plan would have seen 600 redundancies at the airline and 10 per cent pay cuts across the board.
Impact had recommended the deal, which was agreed at the Labour Relations Commission, to its members.
Impact said this evening it would meet Aer Lingus management tomorrow before holding consultations with cabin crew members in each of the Dublin, Cork and Shannon over the coming days.
"The airline's announcement this afternoon was not surprising, as the threat of compulsory redundancies was made repeatedly during the negotiation process and while the branch balloted on the cost saving proposals last week," an Impact spokesman said. He said the union had recommended the cost saving proposals on the basis that they would have minimised job losses, and help sustain the future of the airline.
Management previously had indicated they could seek about 1,000 compulsory redundancies and cut routes if the deal was not accepted by staff.
The airline's announcement comes on the same day it said that losses soared in 2009, rising to more than €80 million for the past 12 months. Despite the losses, the airline said it booked a profit in the second half of the year, it said in a trading update this morning.
Aer Lingus was due to report its full results for the year today, but postponed publication after the result of the cabin crew's ballot.
In its brief trading statement today, the airline revealed it recorded an operating loss, before exceptional items, of €81 million, compared to €20 million in 2008. Losses before tax were €66.2 million for the year, compred to a profit of €18.8 million in 2008.
The company said the first six months of the year saw an operating loss before exceptional items of €93 million before returning to positive territory with a second half operating profit before exceptional items of €12 million.
Over the 12-months, total revenue at the airline fell 11 per cent to €1.2 billion from €1.3 billion a year earlier. Falling passenger and cargo revenues were offset by a strong performance in ancillary revenues, which rose 16 per cent to €173.9 million.
The airline’s total capacity fell by 5.1 per cent in 2009. However, passenger numbers rose throughout the year, increasing 3.8 per cent to 10.4 million. The airline carried 6.5 per cent more short-haul passengers last year, but long-haul travellers fell by more than 14 per cent.
Average fares fell by 16.8 per cent, with short-haul fares dropping 12 per cent on average and long-haul fares falling 15.9 per cent.