Do we really want to end up in that situation though, an airline sacking thousands of staff due to a strike? The disruption and damage to reputation would already be done with weeks of bad press following the strike.
I don't like the idea of Aer Lingus handing over that amount of money but the alternative would have potentially much worse consequences for the airline. The share price has responded well to the deal, there's been little noise from other share holders and the unions remain quiet so the only fuss is coming from Ryanair. Are we surprised? No.
Anyway, with all that out of the way hopefully we'll hear of some long haul schedules soon. The 757 deal and A330 deployment should be soon, there's been plenty of rumours so it'll be interesting to see the official plan once it's announced. Got to be some time this month?