Sir, - The "Current Account" column in Business This Week of August 31st reads more like a plug for Ryanair than a serious economic commentary on the changing face of air travel.
Aer Lingus is a fine airline of which most Irish people are intensely proud; older folks will remember it as a very efficient instrument of national economic policy in those days when Irish governments were long on vision and short on cash.
Ryanair is a no-frills niche-player - reportedly modelled on the American South-West Airlines - currently doing very well carving out its market share from the bemused national carriers of Europe.
It does have an unhappy in-your-face, "gurrier" image, but an investor can hardly fault the numbers.
The "bloated workforce" charge against Aer Lingus/Sabena was unfair . One might as well compare the staffing levels of four-star restaurants with those of McDonalds.
Apples and oranges will continue to co-exist in a market economy and the market always reaches its own equilibrium in the matter of market share. Why not wish them both well and leave it at that? - Yours, etc.,
Michael B. Gill, Lansing, Illinois, USA.