Hi Mouse et al
I'm not claiming any economic superiority over anyone.Aer Lingus has been profiting from the carriage of cargo since the days of the 737 combi and the 747s. At one time, the 747s were the only aircraft making a profit, because of the Premier passengers and the cargo. That continued when the 330s came on line.If you want a really stupid decision, you only have to look at the culling of the cadets and our engineering apprentices. At a stroke, the next generation were axed, for a patently false economy. Now we are having to import trained engineers, who, naturally, are more expensive than 3rd year apprentos. The pilot numbers are thinning as the special leavers stay away and the numbers of retirees increases. I don't need an economics degree to see that that was a dumb idea. Now, we need trained people and they are hard to come by. You can call me stubborn but I don't think racing Mick O'Leary to the bottom is necessarily a good idea.
regards
TDD