February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Chief executive Willie Walsh, chief financial office Brian Dunne, and chief operations officer Seamus Kearney were reported last week to be looking at the possibility of running a rival low-cost airline.
The new carrier is expected to operate primarily out of Dublin airport and concentrate its activities within Europe. A key part of its plans would also center on trans-Atlantic routes.
Aer Lingus directors are thought to be unhappy with the prospect of a new airline headed up by Walsh, given that the board had recently reviewed its U.S. low-fare strategy. It is believed that the board will call for the three execs’ early removal from the company.
Fine Gael has called on the government to make a quick decision about the future of the airline following the reports Friday.
Olivia Mitchell said that while a new airline would be good for the traveling public, it would be damaging to the national carrier.
“It’s certainly a challenge that [Aer Lingus] is very poorly poised at the moment to meet,” she said. “The government really has to start making decisions for Aer Lingus.”
The SIPTU trade union also called for the immediate removal of the three.
Referring to Walsh and his team, Transport Minister Martin Cullen said, “The conflict of interest cannot, should not and will not be allowed to arise between current roles at Aer Lingus and their future career intentions.”
North Dublin Fianna Fail TD Jim Glennon said if the reports of Walsh’s plans were true, then a conflict of interest would arise and the three should be removed immediately.
Walsh responded Monday, saying no such conflict arose. “There is no conflict of interest, none whatsoever; I do not see one,” he told The Irish Times. “I fully expect to be within the airline business after I leave in one guise or another, but I am not in a position to elaborate at this time.”
Fine Gael accused Fianna Fail of “passing the buck” on the Aer Lingus issue. “It’s really a bit rich for Jim Glennon to attack the current Aer Lingus management team, given the government’s own complete indecision on this issue,” Mitchell said. “Then again, it’s typical of Fianna Fail to try to pass the buck and deflect attention from its own woeful performance on this matter. However, to suggest there are any question marks about how the team managed the airline heretofore, as Jim Glennon has done, is an absolute nonsense.
“The reality is that if the government had made a decision on the future ownership and funding of the airline, the management team would now almost certainly be planning the expansion of Aer Lingus, rather than setting up in direct competition to the airline they have so successfully resuscitated.”
Walsh, Dunne and Kearney announced late last year that they would be leaving the national carrier after the government rejected their proposal for a management buyout of the company.
The fortunes of the company had been turned around by the team in recent years. Following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Walsh implemented a swinging “survival plan” that saw a 40 percent reduction in staff. A wage freeze was also introduced. The company had debts of around