akerosid
26th Apr 2005, 04:54
According to an interview with today's Indo, Aer Lingus's incoming CEO, current EK executive Dermot Mannion says that EI may look at growth in Asia. I'd be very surprised if he said this without any discussion with EI and of course, we know that this option has been discussed in the past.
The bad news for EI is that even if the Dear Leader approves the sale, in principle of EI next week, Aer Lingus may have to wait until 2006 for an IPO to take place; the new management will have to "bed down" and build confidence in investment markets and of course, the government will have to keep as far away from EI as possible (apart, of course, from approving a sale). My big fear, particularly given the clearly stated opposition from the ICTU is that Comrade Taoiseach could announce the concept, in principle, of privatising EI, but welch on it down the road, as the unions drum up opposition. The problem for EI is that the unions know they can change Ahern's mind if they try hard enough. He clearly has no interest in aviation issues, so he'll weathervane with whoever is blowing the strongest blast of hot air.
On the plus side, the announcement of a change to the SNN stop regulations should be great for EI ... if they can find aircraft to operate the route. The problem is that getting 332s at short notice is as good as impossible. With the exception of MD11s, long haul widebodies are very difficult to find.
Given yesterday's news about AC, don't count against Boeing making a very spirited effort to get EI's business and since AC is also a significant Airbus s/h operator (A319s, 320s, 321s), the commonality issue may not be a major factor. If Boeing can prove that it can be a partner in/supporter of EI's growth, it may well be able to do the deal. Although the talk has been of an outright purchase, the potential is clearly there for EI to grow and given the success of the airline, even with the stopover in place, Boeing may well feel that EI is a good airline to take a risk on - and it will be well aware of Mannion's record (since he recently gave them quite a lot of good business!) :ok: ;)
The bad news for EI is that even if the Dear Leader approves the sale, in principle of EI next week, Aer Lingus may have to wait until 2006 for an IPO to take place; the new management will have to "bed down" and build confidence in investment markets and of course, the government will have to keep as far away from EI as possible (apart, of course, from approving a sale). My big fear, particularly given the clearly stated opposition from the ICTU is that Comrade Taoiseach could announce the concept, in principle, of privatising EI, but welch on it down the road, as the unions drum up opposition. The problem for EI is that the unions know they can change Ahern's mind if they try hard enough. He clearly has no interest in aviation issues, so he'll weathervane with whoever is blowing the strongest blast of hot air.
On the plus side, the announcement of a change to the SNN stop regulations should be great for EI ... if they can find aircraft to operate the route. The problem is that getting 332s at short notice is as good as impossible. With the exception of MD11s, long haul widebodies are very difficult to find.
Given yesterday's news about AC, don't count against Boeing making a very spirited effort to get EI's business and since AC is also a significant Airbus s/h operator (A319s, 320s, 321s), the commonality issue may not be a major factor. If Boeing can prove that it can be a partner in/supporter of EI's growth, it may well be able to do the deal. Although the talk has been of an outright purchase, the potential is clearly there for EI to grow and given the success of the airline, even with the stopover in place, Boeing may well feel that EI is a good airline to take a risk on - and it will be well aware of Mannion's record (since he recently gave them quite a lot of good business!) :ok: ;)