Job losses at Aer Lingus mean that certain routes are set to be axed or cut back.
The airline announced some 500 staff members could be made redundant, as it pledged to be an “an investment case within the IAG group”.
On The Claire Byrne Show, Barry O'Halloran of the Irish Times said cuts have not been made because the airline is in financial difficulties.
“Aer Lingus isn't losing money per se, it's making a profit margin of around 10%,” he said.
“They need to increase that to between 12 and 15% in order to get more investment from their parent, which is International Airlines Group - which is a Spanish organization that owns multiple airlines around Europe.
“So, in order to get investment and to get more aircraft from their parent [company], they have to increase their profits.”
However, the result of the job losses inevitably means fewer choices for Aer Lingus customers.
“They're getting rid of Dublin to Minneapolis, Denver, Las Vegas and Split in Croatia,” Mr O'Halloran said.
“They are going to cut Frankfurt to a summer only, Hamburg to summer only and Dublin to Malta summer only.
“All those flights, by the way, are from Dublin; so, the Cork and Shannon operations don't seem to be affected at this point.”
Main image: Aer Lingus planes. Picture by: Alamy.com.
