Sir, - Garret FitzGerald's words in the business supplement (August 15th) are welcome now, as indeed his series of articles were both two years ago and before. Aer Lingus has often been a victim of hearsay, so it is always interesting to have a quantitative analysis of their recent record placed before us, the shareholders.
Despite two years lecturing at third level on the economic performance of our national airline, it is only as my personal dealings with them and their competitors increased over the last year that I have moved from the position of laying the blame on the cowardice of successive governments to the view that Aer Lingus itself shares part of the blame. I would address my views like this: While working in London for the last year you got a fighting chance of a considerable amount of my custom. You got much less than you should have, can I tell you why?
Well for a start your customer service ethic is poor. I've seen flight attendants spend most of the flight catching up with old school friends, rather than attending to passenger needs. I've seen staff prioritised over paying customers for standby flights. I hesitate to press the call light or ask for another drink, even on Premier Europe. Contrasted with Virgin, you can be made feel like you're doing them a favour by accepting more. A small cost, but on the home leg of a journey it's appreciated.
It shouldn't be like this. We're among the most friendliest and helpful people in the world, aren't we? Trained and motivated, the same Irish people, when selling computers for American companies, never let you off the phone without some business taking place, yet in over 50 phone calls to Aer Lingus over the past year I've never once felt that the telesales agent really cared whether I flew Aer Lingus or not.
My efforts to understand the fare structure are similarly frustrating. I often ask the person beside me how much they paid to fly and under what conditions. I've now stopped doing this, as I don't want to arrive angry.
For instance, looking at www.aerlingus.ie should be more help than it is. Technology allows fare information in real time, a chance to fill that most perishable of commodities, the airline seat. In fact, in my professional life, I have used this website as an example of "how not to do it". One of the best known brands internationally and their site offers to the world what the trade contemptuously calls brochurewear.
This said, the news for the future is partly good, especially in regard to Aer Lingus's bitterest competitor. While Aer Lingus has a lot to gain by becoming "more Ryanair", it is difficult to see what Ryanair could gain by becoming "more Aer Lingus". Other good news comes in the failure of many of the established European airlines to really take up the challenge of last April's EU deregulation. It's not too late, yet.
Of course there is also news which is bad. British Airways, even with latest pre-tax of about a billion US dollars, believes it needs to reduce aggregate operating costs by at least that before 2000 A.D. to remain competitive. Even in the face of a strike, management has remained firm. Its message is simple. Aviation is now a global market and the European market is overpriced.
The incremental change of the Cahill Report still leaves Aer Lingus overstaffed, positioned poorly in the lucrative transatlantic market and with a market share of only 29 per cent, still believing that it is the national airline. More violent execution than Cahill is required and that means privatisation. It means access to capital for expansion and debt repayment and an end to political prisonership. If the employees want board representation, let them use their pension fund to become a part employee-owned airline. It's been done before and everyone benefitted.
Fortunately all this is now in the hands of a `big hitter', someone who has at various times been comfortable in being linked with positions as Minister for Foreign Affairs, Finance, as Tanaiste and even Taoiseach. Mary O'Rourke now has an opportunity to demonstrate her ability or high office. Anything but the hard decisions will leave her in the less than distinguished company of her predecessors. Her last minute intervention in the CIE Group dispute does not augur well, but her record in Education may give some hope. - Yours, etc.,
Joseph A. Haslam,
Model Farm Road, Cork.