Madam, - As a much travelled senior aviation executive I am bemused by your letters about Aer Lingus.
Firstly, let me ditch the argument that the so-called "dumbing down" of our "national airline" is somehow going to damage Irish tourism and business. There is only one thing that matters in terms of tourism and business access to Ireland and that is the number of people who travel here.
The key factors in this are price, frequency, and choice. The lower the cost, the greater the frequency, and the more direct destinations available, the better. You cannot say that bringing in more passengers is bad for tourism!
Aer Lingus is offering low fares on its growing range of direct, short-haul operations, while giving the longer-haul passenger to the US the choice of premier or economy class, both at attractive prices. All premier class gave passengers to London was a sorry breakfast and a free newspaper, at a cost of €100 extra per trip. "Interlining" meant only through baggage checking, a nice but expensive luxury that most business travellers shun because of tight connections.
As for freight, Ireland is well served by many express cargo/freight operators, all with extensive networks to move goods anywhere in the world quickly and efficiently. Aer Lingus, with its tiny network, simply wasn't competitive.
Low-fare carriers are here to stay. In 1990 more than 90 per cent of all passengers in the US travelled with the so-called "big six" airlines; that proportion is now falling towards 60 per cent and fast, and those airlines have financial problems. The same is true in Europe. This is happening because passengers are simply not prepared to pay five times the fare for services the vast majority don't need or use.
The miracle at Aer Lingus is that it has done what it needed to do to survive and that its staff have retained enough of the old magic to still make it attractive compared with other airlines. Management gets a lot of kudos for knowing what needed to be done and doing it, but staff played their part too and I applaud them for what they have achieved. Let the airline be sold to the highest bidder, and give the staff (including management) their share.
If there is some national or strategic interest, then identify precisely what it is, put it out to competitive tender, and let the best service provider get that business.We have no need to have the State provide a service that the market is clearly providing in a vigorous and competitive fashion. - Yours, etc.,
PATRICK BLANEY, Castletown, Nenagh, Co Tipperary.