"Irish airport body to discuss Shannon cuts"

Monday, January 17, 2005

Airport body to discuss Shannon cuts
The Irish Times


A major rationalisation programme for Shannon airport, which could result in
the loss of up to 200 jobs, is expected to be discussed today at Dublin
Airport.

The board of the Dublin Airport Authority, which remains the ultimate owner
of Shannon, Cork and Dublin airports, is expected to discuss the need for a
cut in numbers at Shannon.

While the authority has refused to comment at this time, it is understood a
large segment of the 200 job cuts are likely to occur in the catering
division, which is based at Shannon.

Unions have already strongly indicated they will resist any forced
redundancies at the catering section or elsewhere. However documents seen by
The Irish Times suggest a rationalisation could be on the cards.

A note produced in December for the Dublin Authority board talked about an
"immediate rationalisation by voluntary severance package". It also talked
about outsourcing "catering and other ancillary activities".

The unions are concerned that a redundancy programme at Shannon may be
followed by a redundancy programme at Dublin or Cork.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Dublin Airport Authority said the board has
delegated the fullest operational authority to the board of Shannon Airport
during the interim period before all three airports become autonomous
entities. He was responding to a report in The Irish Times on Saturday.

He said the delegation of authority was subject to "certain overall
reporting constraints".

Yesterday, the authority reported that more than 17.1 million passengers
travelled through Dublin airport last year, an 8 per cent increase over
2003.

The main contributors to the growth in traffic were European and North
Atlantic routes. European traffic grew by 13 per cent, with almost seven
million passengers travelling in 2004. This growth was supported by the
enlargement of the European Union during the year resulting in an increase
of 10 per cent in traffic to EU countries.


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