If you ran Aer Lingus......

[dmc444]

If tomorrow you were appointed CEO of Aer Lingus, what would you do to turn around the Airline and make it more competitive with Ryanair.

[Colada]

Just sacking Mannion and Coyle and the majority of their management team would be a good start.

Then hire O'Learys deadly enemy Conor McCarthy to run the show.

Start attacking O'Learys bull5hit instead of letting him away with lies on passenger stats etc.
Dump the stuffed shirt difidence. Get the boot in.

Renew attack in EU to force him to divest. He is an obstruction to the progress of the company, and attack is the best form of defence.

Keep on upgrading the Long Haul fleet.
Add some A340's and diversify into the Asian/Australian market.
Open a Toronto route.

Keep adding new european bases to shorthaul. Grow the short haul fleet by leasing on cut throat terms.

Use some of the cash reserves to buy the government stake out, while its cheap.

Work on improving customer relations, distance it from the Ryanair 'fark you' model.

Loads more besides all that.....

[Pauli]

Just sacking Mannion and Coyle and the majority of their management team would be a good start.

Then hire O'Learys deadly enemy Conor McCarthy to run the show.

Start attacking O'Learys bull5hit instead of letting him away with lies on passenger stats etc.
Dump the stuffed shirt difidence. Get the boot in.

Renew attack in EU to force him to divest. He is an obstruction to the progress of the company, and attack is the best form of defence.

Keep on upgrading the Long Haul fleet.
Add some A340's and diversify into the Asian/Australian market.
Open a Toronto route.

Keep adding new european bases to shorthaul. Grow the short haul fleet by leasing on cut throat terms.

Use some of the cash reserves to buy the government stake out, while its cheap.

Work on improving customer relations, distance it from the Ryanair 'fark you' model.

Loads more besides all that.....

Some interesting ideas there, Colada, especially on customer relations. I take it you are no fan of Mick, right?

[cinik]

ha ha ha ha ha

[Mr.B]

No insults now Colada just some debate. Why would you think the A340 would be a good investment for EI long haul. It burns more fuel than other aircraft in this class being a 4 engined bird. Granted there may be operational efficencies from maintaining an all airbus fleet but if you are long term planning perhaps a future A350 order would be more appropriate. For interim lift a short term lease of 777-300ER would be able to complete the Asia missions.

[locke]

Imediately. Buy some Embraer 195 to replace A320s on the thinner routes out of Dublin and develop new routes from Cork and Belfast. Take the A320s that are no longer needed in Dublin to open a new UK base - Cardiff would be a good option as it's still relatively LoCo free, but with a population equivalent to Leinster within an hour's drive.

Longer term. Expand to bases in Mainland Europe. Have a look at what non-US long-haul is available. The runway in Dublin restricts the far-east, but Canada and the Caribbean are options. To get the fleet for this, I'd scrap transatlantic from Shannon.

Also, a greater focus on Dublin as a hub to transfer westwards transatlantic. The US immigration facilities help already on this. That's where the Embraers come in again. If you're going to try connections, you need to operate at a reasonable flight frequency. So for example, twice a day from Newcastle in an E195 is better than once a day in an A320.

[odie1kanobe]

Imediately. Buy some Embraer 195 to replace A320s on the thinner routes out of Dublin and develop new routes from Cork and Belfast. Take the A320s that are no longer needed in Dublin to open a new UK base - Cardiff would be a good option as it's still relatively LoCo free, but with a population equivalent to Leinster within an hour's drive.

Have you ever tried to get to Cardiff Airport ?

Its a bit like driving on the M1 to Dundalk and setting off for miles cross country down small little boreens.

Few airlines fly in because there is little demand.

[locke]

Have you ever tried to get to Cardiff Airport ?

Its a bit like driving on the M1 to Dundalk and setting off for miles cross country down small little boreens.

Few airlines fly in because there is little demand.

I've flown into Cardiff twice. The road into the city leaves something to be desired.

There are plans for a dual-carriageway spur up to the M4, but they've been talking about that forever.

It's still the handiest airport for everywhere west of it and to the east, you have to pay the Severn toll to get to Bristol.

But for UK expansion, they get stuck by the Ryanair and Easyjet presence at most airports - the only exceptions would be Southampton, which is a bit close to Heathrow and Gatwick, and the even worse located Humberside, Exeter, Teesside and Aberdeen. Immediate expansion to Mainland Europe would require a considerable loss period because of poor brand recognition.

[nonpartyboy]

Keep fares low,looking to go to paris for 4 in oct,ryanair 300+ with bags,Aer lingus 420, Air France 540. I'll be flying Aer lingus,and i have no problem using ryanair.

[odie1kanobe]

Keep fares low,looking to go to paris for 4 in oct,ryanair 300+ with bags,Aer lingus 420, Air France 540. I'll be flying Aer lingus,and i have no problem using ryanair.

Why are you booking now ?????????