Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister is no doubt aware, earlier this week Aer Lingus management announced its intention to close the cabin crew base at Shannon Airport from the end of March 2014. That follows the company’s unilateral announcement in September that it would outsource cabin crew services on a new transatlantic service from January 2014. The announcement was directly contrary to an agreement which Aer Lingus had reached with the pilots in negotiations on the outsourcing the 757 service in the first place.

In response to that unilateral action IMPACT members in Aer Lingus across the country were balloted and they determined that they would go on strike.

I am relieved at today's events whereby the LRC has invited both parties to talks. I hope Aer Lingus will formally announce it will be accepting that invitation, if it has not already done so.

The limitations on what the Government can do with regard to Aer Lingus have been very well rehearsed in this House. As we all know, it not a State-owned company any more; there is merely a minority shareholding. When Aer Lingus pulled the flights from Shannon Airport to Heathrow Airport, with disastrous consequences, these arguments were debated at great length. At the time Members were told the Government could not use its shareholding to force Aer Lingus to take a particular action. However, the Government's advice from the Attorney General on the issue, as with the advice from the Attorney General on many other issues, was not published. During the last general election campaign I campaigned for the Attorney General's advice to be published. I do not really understand why the Attorney General's advice on a wide range of issues cannot be published. I understand there are issues of commercial sensitivity, but when it comes to issues of constitutional change, it is another matter. Today there was an announcement or a decision made by the Cabinet. In this regard, I just do not know why Attorney General's advice cannot be published. I do not wish to digress on this issue.

The Government, as a significant shareholder in Aer Lingus, has an interest in maintaining the value of the company. This is determined by and very reliant on loyalty, including customer loyalty. Unlike companies with which Aer Lingus competes, in respect of short-haul flights to Europe and even transatlantic flights, the airline is very reliant on customer loyalty. It is very difficult to see how that customer loyalty can be maintained, while at the same time abusing the loyalty of long-term staff.

There is a notion among the new management that Aer Lingus having been a company for which people worked for their entire working lives does not fit with some of the practices of its competitors. People work for a year or two as cabin crew with the latter and then burn out and move on to other jobs. In Aer Lingus this has not been the practice. Its customers value this and it is part of the reason the company was able to survive. It survived because of the loyalty of its staff and customer base.

We have been told by the Irish Aviation Authority that it is safe to have four-person crews on transatlantic flights. However, there is the difference between what is safe and what is comfortable or what provides a reasonable level of customer service. Aer Lingus prides itself on and markets itself on the basis of providing that customer service. It has competitors which until very recently marketed themselves on not providing customer service, but that model does not seem to be working and the competitors are changing. It seems bizarre at this time that Aer Lingus is seeking to reduce the level of its customer service. I look forward to the Minister's reply.

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