Aer Lingus possible closure of Manchester base
Last week, Aer Lingus confirmed that it has held talks with staff over the possible closure of its Manchester Airport base, which has not been achieving the same kind of margins as its Irish airports.
In October, Aer Lingus cabin crew based as Manchester, rejected a pay rise of nine per cent and a further three per cent next year. This was due to the discrepancy of pay between the Dublin based crew and the crew at Manchester. "The starting basic salary for cabin crew in Ireland is €29,833.26, meaning the difference once converted into pounds is £8,249" said Unite.
Due to this. over 130 workers held strike action, from 30 October to 2nd November & further dates went ahead between 9-18th November. During this time Aer Lingus used charter airlines & aircrafts to keep passengers flying to there destinations with minimal disruption, long-haul operations out of Manchester consist of services to Barbados, New York and Orlando, with flights served by two based Airbus A330-300.
On Monday 24th November, Unite the Union published that they have responded to Aer Lingus with anger over proposals to close the base as the airline has issued redundancy notices to employees, which has put over 200 workers at risk, Unite has formally requested all the required information under Section 188 of the Employment Rights Act, along with the additional evidence needed for meaningful consultation – this includes the full business rationale, Manchester-specific financials, modelling behind the claim that aircraft could earn more elsewhere, timelines and role breakdowns.
Unite regional officer John O'Neill said:
Our members working for Aer Lingus at Manchester Airport are understandably distressed and anxious about their futures.
"During the dispute, which they have had a legal right and mandate to undertake, they have acted professionally and deserve answers from their employer as to why this base could be closing.
"Unite's focus is now on saving jobs. The union is prepared to pause further industrial action to create space for consultation with Aer Lingus. We are calling on Aer Lingus to do the right thing and work with us in good faith."
Aer Lingus CEO Lynne Embleton said:
“The base is performing lower than elsewhere in Aer Lingus, and Aer Lingus is performing lower than elsewhere in IAG, so it’s not performing at a level that makes it attractive for investment,”
“We’ve had several days of industrial action so far. We’ve managed through the strike. We’ve reaccommodated more than 90 per cent of passengers. Some have taken refunds but most have taken alternative flights we’ve made available for them
.
“There are more strike dates planned. I think the key thing here is we’ve benchmarked pay,” she said. “We’ve put forward an offer that is fair and competitive, and which we reached agreement with Unite on two separate occasions. Unite recommended it: their members rejected it.
“Manchester has to be cost competitive. The airline needs to be cost competitive and it needs to perform financially to justify the asset allocation. So this is something that we’re taking seriously.”
