Sir, - I joined Aer Lingus when there were but 100 employees and during the following 42 years, served in various capacities from flight crew to operations control manager; as the airline is now in desperate straits, may I use your letters page to make a suggestion?
No one can deny that there is a grave shortage of funds and drastic action is required; the company wishes to reduce staff by 2,500. To lose highly trained staff for what may probably be temporary is not the answer. They will cost millions in redundancy payments and within months may be re-employed as the world returns to normality. As the entire staff is concerned, surely, in order to save the airline, it might be prepared to have a 25 per cent salary cut throughout the company for a period of six months. This cut would apply to everybody from chief executive down and therefore be seen to be impartial.
As the only island nation in the EU it is of vital importance not to lose our main means of communicating with the rest of Europe. Yours, etc., -
Dermot C. Clarke, Wilson Road, Mount Merrion, Co Dublin.