Madam, - As a resident of Co Donegal, I was delighted to learn of the Aer Lingus decision to operate a hub from Belfast.
For too many years now the people of the north, north-west and Border counties have had to endure many hours driving to Dublin to fly on the national carrier. Thankfully, Aer Lingus is now addressing the vast number of customers from this area who have supported the airline and it is to be congratulated for its decision. Why should citizens living in the Shannon region have any more entitlement to air services than people in other parts of this island? As for the industrial action planned for next week, maybe the pilots should remember that we customers pay their wages and that Irish tax payers have subsidised the lifestyles to which they became accustomed while the company was in State ownership. - Yours, etc,
AIDAN CORR, Derrybeg, Co Donegal.
Madam, - If Aer Lingus were to open a hub in Sydney, or Chicago, or Ulan Bator, should the pilots there have the same pay and conditions as pilots flying out of Dublin?
This disgraceful strike demonstrates once again the basic attitudes that pervade many (if not most) Government and semi-state bodies: an absolute contempt for the needs of the customer, an overweening sense of entitlement, a mythology of grievance, and a conviction that these organisations exist not for the benefit of owners, customers, the government or the public at large, but for the benefit of the employees. - Yours, etc,
JOHN STAFFORD, Knocklyon, Dublin 16.
Madam, - After 14 years as a director, CEO and chairman of national and international boards, I am incredulous at Dermot Mannion's conduct. To decide to kill the Shannon-Heathrow route without full board consultation, and hire pilots for Belfast on new terms without speaking to his unions, smacks of recklessness, arrogance and 12th-century, Middle Eastern values.
His predecessor did much to devalue the once-cherished Aer Lingus brand. Stopping unaccompanied minors for specious reasons separated children from their parents. Stopping the carriage of coffins filled bereaved families with despair. Unchanged transatlantic menus for a decade are an insult to regular passengers.
Two accountant CEOs in succession have robbed the Irish travelling public of a brand with humanity. The engine that fell off Mr Mannion's model aeroplane at a rushed Belfast launch was typical of a lack of thoroughness. The board must act. - Yours, etc,
H. DAVIES, Brand Asset, An Spidéal, Co na Gaillimhe.
A Chara, - The current Government position on the proposed Aer Lingus move from Shannon is simply untenable, particularly in view of the reassurances given at the time of privatisation. Somebody senior needs to take charge quickly and sort it out.
If the Government wanted Aer Lingus to trade on a purely commercial basis with all its decisions completely outside its control, even when those decisions contradict the Government's political agenda, then it should have told us this at the time it sold off the national airline, and should now divest itself of any remaining interest and at least come clean. However, the clear message back then was that it was essential to retain a strategic shareholding, particularly so that any decisions contrary to the national interest - such as this one - could be overruled.
The sight of Ian Paisley welcoming Aer Lingus to Belfast was very heartening, and from a republican perspective was greatly to be welcomed. However, to pursue this by dumping on the entire western seaboard is just not on. Some sort of solution will have to be found, and turning down Michael O'Leary's opportunistic offer of support simply because Ministers don't like the guy is not something that will easily be forgotten, or forgiven. - Is mise,
DAVID CARROLL, Castle Gate, Dublin 2.
Madam, - If only we had realised! If only Willie O'Dea had known that Aer Lingus, once privatised, would no longer be bossed around by the Government; if only Ibec had realised that Aer Lingus as a private entity would most probably be making decisions based solely on financial criteria; if only Martin Cullen had read the fine print! If only. . . ... we might have been spared the torrent of crocodile tears and the undignified, if somewhat amusing, squabbling between Mr O'Dea and some of his cabinet colleagues.
I think Willie, Ibec and the worried citizens of the mid-west should pipe down and stop worrying. This is all part of the Taoiseach's grand socialist vision for Ireland, and I have no doubt he will be able to explain it, in simple terms, on his return from holidays. - Yours, etc,
TONY FLAHERTY, Ros Geal, Rahoon, Galway.
Madam, - I am writing to applaud Fintan O'Toole for his column of August 14th which exposed the morally and logically untenable position of people in the Shannon region who condemn Air Lingus for its their decision to move the Heathrow slots to Belfast. While I share their sense of disappointment at the loss of such a vital service I would remind them that they were forewarned of the likelihood of this development by vocal opponents of the airline's privatisation. Most voters in the region endorsed a Fianna Fáil government in the last election and should be made to lie in their bed.
In a democracy voters have a duty, both as citizens and as taxpayers, to hold their leaders to account, In the election we saw the abdication of this responsibility on a grand scale. The results from the Cavan-Monaghan constituency belied the fact that people in this region had been protesting loudly for several years about the closure of A&E units and the withdrawal of surgical and maternity services. Surprisingly to outside observers, a Fianna Fáil candidate received a poll-topping public endorsement. Voters effectively gave the government carte blanche for the further curtailment of hospital services.
Those who voted for the present government can hardly complain when the rest of us feel slightly inured to their whining. - Yours, etc,
ORLAITH NÍ FHIONNAGÁIN, Riverwood Gardens, Castleknock, Dublin 15.
Madam, - Fintan O'Toole's assertion that "you get what you vote for", is disingenuous and does not stand up to basic scrutiny. He writes that "the decision that Aer Lingus has made in relation to flights from Shannon to Heathrow is an utterly predictable consequence of privatisation". However, nowhere does he mention that the Government retained more than 25 per cent of the shares in Aer Lingus, so the company has not been totally privatised.
Accordingly, the Government is fair game for attack. Moreover, the people of the broad mid-west region did not vote (directly or indirectly) for privatisation; there was no choice in the matter. Because of EU regulations on State aid, it was privatise or die.
The privatisation of Aer Lingus was undoubtedly the correct strategy for the company. But it is the correct strategy for the people of the mid-west to use all legal means available to retain the Shannon-Heathrow route. - Yours, etc,
WILTON DENNEHY, Lisnalty, Ballyclough, Limerick.
Madam, - As a regular business traveller and member of the Aer Lingus Gold Circle Club, I support the decision by the pilots' union to strike next week, even though the strike coincides with a current reservation that I have on an Aer Lingus route, and will cause considerable inconvenience to me personally.
I believe the real "attack on customers" (as Dermot Mannion puts it) is not the pilots' decision to strike, but the decision by Aer Lingus to abandon the tens of thousands of loyal customers that it currently serves on the Shannon-Heathrow route in pursuit of lower costs at Belfast. The two issues are inextricably woven. - Yours, etc,
JOE MORRISSEY, Greenville Terrace, Dublin 8.
Madam, - Aer Lingus's decision to employ pilots based in Belfast on less favourable terms than those at Dublin is regrettable; however, the company operates in a free market and a redrawing of its terms and conditions for new workers in a separate jurisdiction is entirely legitimate.
In much the same way The Irish Timesis perfectly entitled to set its retail price at €1.70 in the Republic, while continuing to charge €1.20 (80p) in Northern Ireland. - Yours, etc,
CHRISTOPHER O'HARA, Courtney Avenue, Lurgan, Co Armagh.