The entire European aviation sector is watching Ireland as pilot union and Aer Lingus management meet at the Labour Court amid further strike threat, leading analyst says
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Aer Lingus retains “strategic relevance” for its owner, IAG, but management will have to show their own bosses in London and Madrid that it can deliver levels of profitability to persuade the group to keep investing in the Irish airline, according to a top analyst.
Pilot productivity at the Irish airline is “quite a way below” the maximum commercial pilots are legally permitted to fly, according to Andrew Lobbenberg, the head of European transport equity research at Barclays. Aer Lingus pilots also fly far fewer hours than at rival Ryanair
