Aer Lingus, Delta announce trans Atlantic cut backs

Aer Lingus said today that it was cutting winter capacity on it's trans Atlantic routes by 25%, compared to last year in an effort to cut costs. From September 1, the airline's Shannon - Chicago route will be axed for the winter while it's Dublin to San Francisco and Dublin to Washington routes will be suspended from October 25. The four weekly Shannon - New York flights are under close scrutiny according to Aer lingus which says that average long haul fares were down 19% in Q1 due to lack of consumer confidence and weakened economic conditions on both sides of the Atlantic.

SIPTU, the country's largest trade union said that the decision by Aer Lingus was 'madness' with the union's President Jack O'Connor adding that the airline should never have been privatised.

Ryanair too criticised the move with Stephen McNamara saying that his airline 'regrets the cut backs at Aer Lingus as they represent a step backwards not forwards. Today's announcement highlights the mistake the board and government made when they rejected Ryanair's January offer which promised to double the Aer Lingus fleet to over 60 aircraft, thereby creating 1,000 new jobs.'

Today's announcement is a double blow for Shannon after Delta Airlines announced yesterday that it was cutting the Shannon - New York route from October next.