Aer Lingus will announce a severe package of cutbacks including up to 650 job losses in the morning.
The recession has put the airline under pressure to secure savings in excess of €100m per year.
Sources suggest the 650 jobs would go in two tranches, and 'reasonably soon,' though on a voluntary redundancy basis.
While pilots, cabin crew and flight operations staff will be hit, there will also be extensive job losses in administration and possible outsourced ground activities.
There is also the possibility of an across-the-board pay cut of up to 10%.
In addition, there is the possibility of a significant curtailment of the pension scheme which has a serious deficit.
As yet, there are no details of whether Aer Lingus intends to cut more routes to save money.
There is likely to be a six-week period of engagement between management and unions on the restructuring.
The board is meeting this evening to sign off on the final details of the package.
If the Aer Lingus restructuring strategy lives up to these expectations tomorrow, it will trigger further industrial unrest at the airline.
