One of the more interesting airline soap operas playing in Europe over the past three years has been the Ryanair romance of Aer Lingus. Two years ago, Ryanair offered the Irish national carrier almost €1.5 billion. Last January, the low-cost carrier proposed again with a €748 million offer. None of these entreaties were accepted.
Since then, Aer Lingus has continued on her downward spiral with losses continuing to mount. Ryanair has maintained its profitability. Ryanair has also continued buying shares of Aer Lingus on the open market, boosting their ownership of the airline. Ryanair now owns about 30 percent of Aer Lingus stock.
Michael O’Leary did leave himself a get-out-of-jail card, observing that Aer Lingus would need “a major reorganisation” and that if it came back to its shareholders for fresh capital, Ryanair would, surprise, surprise, be “happy to invest more money in Aer Lingus”.
In the meantime, Aer Lingus communiques are not so boastful or hopeful. The struggling airline has been looking at cutting back their long-haul flights and continues to shrink its international footprint.
Aer Lingus may stop operating its loss-making routes to the US, especially those from Shannon, and transfer them to a third party or codeshare partner as part of initiatives to address its long-haul deficits, according to Irish press reports. EI CEO Christoph Mueller stated that he appreciates the “national importance” of the carrier’s American routes but said his airline is “not a charity,” suggesting that the Shannon-New York JFK route has survived only because of pressure from the Irish government, IrishCentral reported. In July, EI confirmed it would reduce long-haul capacity by 24% this winter and suspend service from Dublin to Washington Dulles and San Francisco from Oct. 25 until March 2010 and SNN-Chicago O’Hare on Sept. 1.
Either story taken on their own don’t amount to much news other than internal air transport machinations. But taken together, they tell an unfolding tale which may lead to the would-have-been-bride asking the very suitor she spurned to return. This is an airline marriage that would be tempestuous and very interesting.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
