The Board of Aer Lingus has agreed to proceed with the company's cost-cutting plans.
The decision was made at a meeting of the board today.
In a statement, Aer Lingus says the Board was committed to delivering the cost savings as a matter of urgency because of the the extremely challenging revenue environment.
The Board will outline its cost-cutting plan to unions early next week.
The company has been considering a variety of ways to make savings since it announced a revew of its operations.
One of the proposals that was under consideration is the outsourcing of 1,300 ground-handling staff, the airline's unions are firmly opposed to this prospect.
SIPTU said the statement by Aer Lingus was not unexpected.
The union is due to meet company representatives on Monday, after which it will have a further meeting with shop stewards.
In August the company posted an operating loss of €22.3m for the first six months of 2008, compared with an operating profit of €2.6m a year earlier, as the airline was crippled by soaring fuel costs.
