Quoting ayroplain:
"This is true but, in making your point, I think you have to remember that EI was not a proper airline. It existed solely for the convenience of the Government, the rich, its unions and staff so there was no incentive (or even reason) to expand it. The cosy arrangement with BA was an extension of that. It is equally important to remember that the Management and Board were people who knew little or, in most cases, nothing about aviation"
With all due respect, I don't think that's entirely fair. It's certainly true to say that EI was largely controlled by the govt and it was kept under a firm thumb. I remember that time too and was active in the Shannon stopover issue at the time; I can tell you that there were a lot of EI people who knew very well the damage this was doing and how urgent it was to get rid of it; it was Maire Geoghegan Quinn who tried to silence EI employees from commenting on this (and ordered the then CEO, Cathal Mullen, to take disciplinary action against them - which thankfully never happened).
It is true to say that, had the stopover not been there, EI could certainly have expanded; at that time, ALC had a pretty large network in the UK, and it was ultimately its own shareholder which prevented this from happening; Aer Rianta, as you'll recall, was dead set against any change, largely because US bound pax could use its duty free shops twice, once at DUB, then at SNN. It would have been comical, were it not so serious.
It wasn't until Brian Cowen introduced the 50/50 split between DUB and SNN, in 1993, that the first crack in the wall of the SNN stopover appeared - and did the Shannon crowd bleat! (In fact, the 20th anniversary of the first nonstop is around now.)
Sure, there were things EI didn't do so well, but I think that credit should be given where due. I would certainly agree that EI is a better airline now than it has ever been and CM deserves praise for this, particularly given that EI is competing against Europe's most ruthless competitor.