Aer Lingus Chief Executive Dermot Mannion and Finance Director Sean Coyle have negotiated a failure fee for themselves in the event that the airline is taken over by Ryanair or another airline. The Sunday Independent reports that the deal is believed to have been signed off by former Chairman of Aer Lingus, John Sharman, days before his departure from his post in September 2008.
The letter from John Sharman entitles Dermot Mannion to not only terminate his own contract but also to avail of a compensation package of twice his entire remuneration package, should the airline change hands. This deal is currently estimated to be worth €2.8m to Mr. Mannion.
The newspaper also reports that the present Chairman Colm Barrington has defended the package for Mannion and Coyle by saying that "In the context of a company under threat such a contract is perfectly normal," obviously referring to the Ryanair bid, adding that "It is especially necessary when the chief executive of the bidding company has said that the board should be taken out and shot. And in his last bid Mr O'Leary was going to impose redundancies."
Ryanair's CEO Michael O'Leary has hit back by saying that "Shareholders will want an explanation why Mannion publicly claims that Aer Lingus has an independent future -- while behind closed doors he is stuffing €2.8m of shareholders' cash into his lifeboat."
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