AIRLINES TRYING TO 'HANG ON IN THERE' - More massive cuts are on the way at Aer Lingus. According to reports in yesterday's Sunday Tribune, up to 1,000 job cuts are expected after the airline's bankers shut off its funding.
The airline itself says the cuts are 'some way off'. Its new chief executive Christophe Mueller starts on September 1, and he will need some time to figure out what cuts to make and where. But Aer Lingus is not the only airline in a fix.
David Learmount of Flight International magazine said Aer Lingus was not in a different position to many other airlines around the world.
He said it was difficult to say where cuts could be made. He said BA had made cuts - and were looking for more cuts - but were now running out of ideas about where to cut. Mr Learmount said airlines were just trying to 'hang on in there' until the recovery came.
He said the public appeared to want a new model of air travel, but had not yet decided what that model would be. Mr Learmount said this left airlines in a quandary, but they would 'do what it takes' to be there when the recovery came.
Asked about how the airline sector would look after the recession ended, Mr Learmount said low-cost airlines were not doing particularly well during the recession, but had been 'slightly less hard hit' than traditional carriers. He said the model for short-haul routes would probably be closer - though not identical - to the Ryanair-type model.
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NEWS AND MARKETS - Official figures show that Japan's economy grew for the first time since early 2008 in the three months from April to June, following Germany and France out of recession. The the second biggest economy in the world grew by 0.9% in April to June, after shrinking by a revised 3.1% in the first quarter.
After that news the Nikkei is down by 3%, and the Hang Seng is almost 3% lower. On the currency markets, the euro is trading at $1.4137 and 86.07p sterling.
