When British Airways owner IAG came calling to buy Aer Lingus a decade ago, it quickly became a political football.
This was understandable given the national pride historically associated with Ireland’s former State airline. The notion of flag carriers is perhaps outdated, yet the likes of BA, KLM in the Netherlands, Lufthansa in Germany and Air France all remain a potent symbol of their countries, even if direct state influence waned years ago.
One of the big concerns at the time of the takeover centred on the idea that IAG would be able to tweak the Aer Lingus service to suit its needs with little consideration of requirements on the ground in Ireland.
The concern focused on the valuable Aer Lingus slots at Heathrow, and those worries seemed well founded when IAG opened an Aer Lingus base in Manchester, and started a direct service from there to the likes of New York, Barbados and Orlando. IAG appeared willing to sacrifice routes from Ireland to the US at the altar of the wider group’s dynamics.
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It doesn’t seem to have quite worked out like that.
On Friday, Aer Lingus boss Lynne Embleton seemed pessimistic about the Manchester base.
“The base is performing lower than elsewhere in Aer Lingus, and Aer Lingus is performing lower than elsewhere in IAG, so it’s not performing at a level that makes it attractive for investment,” she said.
There are issues at play beyond the finances of the Manchester hub, of course. Aer Lingus staff based at the UK airport are in dispute with the carrier, with workers set to walk off the job a number of times this month, after a four-day strike in October. About 7,500 passengers are expected to be impacted by the latest round of strikes, if they go ahead.
Ms Embleton’s comments could be seen as part of that negotiation as much as anything else.
The fact remains that she has publicly and fairly bluntly come out as being unhappy about the Manchester hub.
