Originally Posted by waffler
Dublinaviator,
Interesting view of what Aer Lingus may gain from a Ryanair takeover but a bit naive.
As I see it as an Aer Lingus employee, no matter what Mr O leary says ( remember him saying that he would not touch Aer Lingus with a bargepole )
He will do these things.
1. Take all the cash from Aer Lingus accounts and transfer them to Ryanair.
That's just pure scaremongering. Any new group that would be formed from a Ryanair takeover would share profits. I don't see what the problem is with that prospect?
Originally Posted by waffler
2. Sell Heathrow slots to the highest bidder with the exception of those he has
promised to BA , Virgin or whoever is pretending to provide compitition in
the event of his takeover.
More than likely, were Ryanair allowed to takeover Aer Lingus, the European Commission would require them to release some LHR slots to other carriers. So that has to be expected. From a consumer point of view, I think it'd be good to have more competition on the DUB-LHR route.
Originally Posted by waffler
3. Sell the short range Airbus aircraft that Aer Lingus own ( 60% of the fleet )
Aer Lingus are already doing this themselves. Since Christoph Mueller has taken over as CEO, the size of their long-haul and short-haul fleet has reduced and the size of their A321 fleet in particular has been cut in half. Ryanair on the other hand have stated they would grow the Aer Lingus short-haul and long-haul fleet. And they can do this because they have the capital to invest in new aircraft, and could also transfer Ryanair operated aircraft over to the Aer Lingus operation.
Originally Posted by waffler
4. Terminate the contract with Aer Arann.
Aer Lingus already has the ability to terminate it's franchise with Aer Arann at any time. What if, when traffic picks up, they decide that franchise doesn't suit their business model anymore?
Originally Posted by waffler
5. Force the existing staff out of the company by changing working conditions and forced redeployment overseas ( with the loss of millions to the exchequer)
Ryanair is one of the largest employers in this country and is constantly hiring people in their head office in Dublin. So the idea that they'd outsource all the Aer Lingus staff functions overseas is a bit daft.
What would more likely happen is Ryanair head office staff would actually move into Aer Lingus' offices in Hangar 6 in order to obtain synergies and efficiencies in management functions.
Originally Posted by waffler
6. Dictate avation policy to the airports , government and citizens.
Wouldn't be hard to do considering the current government has no aviation policy. And on more than one occasion, Aer Lingus, Ryanair, Aer Arann, and even CityJet have come together to square up against the government and DAA. And it was Aer Lingus who threatened not to move into T2 unless they got the same terminal charges as airlines using T1. So lets not pretend Ryanair is the only airline that puts it up to the government/DAA.