Body Blow For The Irish

[mr Q]

IRISH TIMES 21/8/04
Aer Lingus urged to reverse plan on carrying remains
Gordon Deegan


The organisation representing funeral directors has urged Aer Lingus to reverse its decision to stop bringing home the remains of Irish people who have died in the UK and Europe.

The airline announced it would be discontinuing the service - currently involving an average of 1,200 bodies a year - following its decision to end all short-haul cargo services from and into Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports from next January.

But calling the decision "retrograde", the Irish Association of Funeral Directors (IAFD) has written to Aer Lingus chief executive, Mr Willie Walsh, urging a change of mind.

IAFD spokesman, Mr Gus Nichols, said: "It is a service Aer Lingus has carried out for many years behind the scenes and they have done it very, very well. The vast majority of repatriation is from the UK. It is a traumatic enough time for grieving families without the inevitable delays that this decision is going to cause."

An Aer Lingus spokeswoman confirmed that the decision relating to the end of short-haul cargo service also affects the repatriation of remains. The transition to a new fleet of Airbus aircraft on short-haul routes was cited as the main reason for phasing out the cargo service.

But Mr Nichols said he had no doubt the planes would still be able to carry coffins. "I'm sure Aer Lingus have sound economic reasons for phasing out cargo, but this is different. It is someone's mother, someone's father, someone's grandparent. We never considered it as cargo and I dislike the term.

"Ryanair ended the service a number of years ago and Aer Lingus appear to be slavishly following the Ryanair model. I don't believe that this decision is going to save them very much money at all, as it is only a tiny number of flights that carries someone home back to Ireland."

He forecast that families would turn to ferry companies to bring their loved ones home: "Families that do suffer a tragedy will be faced with extra delays and extra costs."

Parish priest for the Shannon area, Father Tom Ryan, said: "The Irish have a great respect for our dead, but that has been forgotten by our national carrier in this decision." Hardly a week went by that he was not called to the mortuary at Shannon Airport in response to the remains of a deceased person being repatriated.

"Any death is devastating and anything to ease the pain should be done, but the Aer Lingus decision means that there will be nowhere along the western seaboard where bodies can be flown to. This will only add to the pain of families and I would appeal to the company to reverse their decision," Father Ryan said.

[apaddyinuk]

It still breaks my heart to see how Willie has destroyed a once proud national airline! They were my first airline and my mother flew with them for 20 years and my father was a pilot with them for over 35 years and both are almost ashamed now to say they worked for the Shamerock!!!!

[futurepilot2004]

Its about time that this is happening. For too long the pilots and cabin crew stayed in the top hotels and got fantastic benifits while the Irish taxpayer was handed the bill.Aer Lingus passengers had to pay vast amounts of money to fly even to London. All thats happening now is that the airline is being transformed into a profitable successful business.

[wheelbarrow]

RYANAIR is now the Irish National carrier and will soon be the carrier of Europe ;) ;) ;)

Aer Fungus wont be able to compete as its really only an airtaxi company now with airtaxi management tactics.

COOs screaming and raving on fones to pilots ....... Take the deal lads and get a real job with the cash.

Slan Agat Wee Willy :ugh:

[niknak]

Isn't it strange how differing nations have differing attitudes to death.
As far as I am concerned, once yer dead, you are, well and truely deceased, and it doesn't matter how many people greive for you, you'll never come back.

As much as I genuinely miss my departed relatives and friends, when they are called to meet their maker, that's it, it's never mattered to them or anyone else whether they were interned whole, as ashes, or perhaps not at all (medical science or other purposes), each to their own.
As such, when you are repatriated for the final showdown, do it with dignity and minimal fuss.

Some folk accuse me of being callous for taking such an attitude, but once you are off this mortal coil, why be more of an inconvenience to anyone than you were when you were on it?

Let others remember you with a fond, not a heavy heart.

[MarkD]

The end of SH cargo has large economic implications and it looks like we will depend on UK carriers for it since FR doesn't do cargo either.

Blaming the 320s is a joke since all Airbuses have been built to standard cargo unit sizes, if anything ditching the 73x should have helped.

[WHBM]

Every time I go into Dublin during the day I see a number of cargo aircraft laying over on the eastern apron between their nightly runs to the UK and Europe, so presumably the freight forwarders can handle this traffic like any other.

[RYRbaby.com]

When FR stopped carrying cargo some years ago, there was a war in the Wild West of Ireland because of the repatriation life-line. So much so, that FR had to back track slightly on it's carriage of human remains.

Human remains still fly to Knock on a regular basis.

Perhaps, EI may make a similiar compassionate move if the public pressure builds???

[st.elmo]

Weelbarrow; The National Airline of Ireland is Aer Lingus. Ryanair are the low fares airline not a national airline.

In the past Aer Lingus charged more but the level of service was second to none. Passengers got their monies worth and the crew got theirs. Crew work hard and should be well rewarded for doing so. It is a very difficult and demanding job. Passengers only see the crew onboard and dont realise what the crew do to get there. Each flight crew are questioned and sometimes drilled about safety and cabin proceedures. They are the most professional bunch of people you will ever meet. Should the person you trust your safety with not be entitled to a comfortable nights sleep. I bet you would appreciate the plush hotel and extras after a 16 hour day.

If you were to ask any of the crew you will find they would prefere to offer the high standards. Unfortunately accountants and CEO's only see figures. The more money they make for the company the more of a bonus in the christmas stockings. Even in an age of cutbacks the money saved is used for the fat cats.

Take Noel Hanlon who cut back on the IT dept limited office area at Dublin Airport so he could extend a boardroom only to be used by himself and government officials. He gets the personal chef and hot croissants with his morning paper and the rest still have ongoing cutbacks. The fatest cat of all not seen in the terminal for years.