This article is from page 16 of the 2008-10-14 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 16 JPG
THE proposed outsourcing of cabin crew on Aer Lingus transatlantic flights will not directly affect the number of American tourists who use Shannon Airport, according to a leading tourism spokesman.
This outsourcing, which is part of the massive cost saving plan pro- posed by management last week, would see American based cabin crew employed on the flights with only pilots to be based in Shannon.
According to Lahinch hotelier and local spokesperson for the Irish Ho-
tel federation, Michael Vaughan the proposal may have impacted on the old Aer Lingus model, but will not adversely affect the new low-cost model.
“Aer Lingus has always used the image of being an Irish airline to attract business, especially from America. | think if outsourcing of cabin crew does take place then they really won’t be able to say that any- more,’ he said.
“They have adopted the low cost model and one of the assumptions of this model is that the person re- ally doesn’t mind who brings them to
their destination as long as they can get there for the price they want. In the older model for Aer Lingus this might have been an issue but I’m not sure that if will have an impact Ce) A
Mr Vaughan believes that the worst case scenario for tourism in the re- gion is if no agreement is reached between unions and the airline and a “wind down” of services comes into effect.
“I see this as a HR issue for Aer Lingus. They have to get their cost base right and negotiate with the un- ions. At present we don’t believe that
there is any threat to their transatlan- tic service out of Shannon barring a situation where we cannot come to some agreement. If this is the situa- tion I would assume that there will be some sort of wind down of serv- ices and that would have a damaging effect on the region, there is no doubt about that,’ he continued.
“That said it is quite possible that other airlines would see a possible opportunity in that. I know that Delta and Continental are quite happy with their activity of late and may just see an opportunity for themselves there.
“T am always conscious of the fact
that there are people’s jobs at stake here in Shannon, but in my position I must take a wider view. We have been hostages to fortune in Shannon for so long now. It’s like there has been a sword hanging over us for years now and there is a feeling within the busi- ness community that it is time to get the house in order in Shannon and go forward positively into the future in- stead of going forward with a chip on our shoulder about one thing or the other. In a perverse sort of way this may be a golden opportunity to en- Sure proper services in Shannon for the future.”