The Irish airline – which currently operates transatlantic flights from Manchester to New York, Orlando and Barbados – announced yesterday (8 January) that it was “undergoing a period of uncertainty on transatlantic services at our Manchester base”.
It said the move was in order to minimise customer disruption in the event of a closure of the Manchester base.
Agents had already been plunged into Aer Lingus-related “chaos” in recent weeks, after a flurry of cancellations, rescheduling and flight changes. But the Manchester hub announcement has still come as somewhat of a shock to some in the trade, particularly as the airline apparently had been reiterating its expansion plans for the hub lately.
Agent Lisa Ellen said that she only recently attended an event where “they [Aer Lingus] were telling everyone that they are increasing the Manchester hub and doing even more locations for the US from Manchester”. She added: “I’m really gutted about it for my customers and my own travel.”
‘Lack of communication’
To make matters worse, a number of agents have told TTG that they have had no direct communication on the latest Manchester update from Aer Lingus, and they’ve been left to hear updates from their tour operator partners, or clients themselves.
“It’s the lack of communication – emailing clients direct and leaving us to find out either from them or social media – we’ve supported them and they’ve thrown us under the bus a little bit!,” said Travel Counsellor Rebecca James.
Travelosophers’ Dan Langshaw added: “This has just happened to me this morning, the airline has emailed my customer direct offering a full refund or for the customer to email them back to find alternatives – this is before I’ve had any notification from the tour op – this is going to be a nightmare.”
TTG has now had an update from Aer Lingus confirming: “Customers already booked on Aer Lingus UK transatlantic services from Manchester from 31 March onwards and who are concerned about their travel arrangements will be offered a refund or re-accommodation options in due course. We appreciate our customers’ patience and cooperation during this time and we will be contacting customers directly regarding their flights.”
Designer Travel managing director Amanda Matthews told TTG: “It’s a real shame that we’ve got three key direct routes taken out of Manchester. We did a lot of business with Aer Lingus and supported them a lot from our homeworkers in the north.
“However, we couldn’t have gone on with all the chaos that has been caused by them cancelling, rescheduling and changing flights for the past month and a half. It was horrendous. All over Christmas, Boxing Day and New Year’s.
“We’ve been working off a spreadsheet, everyday holding our breath. We’ve been dealing with so much uncertainty.”
Matthews added she was glad to at least get some clarification on the situation.
“In some ways, it’s good that a decision has been made. We’ve got 42 bookings impacted that we’re now sorting out. I have to shout out Gold Medal who are on top of it and have been absolutely fantastic already.
“We now have a clear route and can take action, rather than upsetting clients at the last minute and scrambling around to get them on different flights.
“I would love to think that one of the other airlines would pick up one of these routes especially seasonally to Barbados and Orlando. I know there’s the demand.”
Cheryl Johnson added: “The timing is awful, not only to announce late yesterday but in the middle of peaks when it’s already so, so busy. Giving agents and tour ops a heads up would have been nice.”
Lynne Friery, of Friery Travel, added: “It’s disappointing when direct routes to Orlando from Scotland and the north are already limited – it reduces the options for clients looking to fly direct without additional flights, people want convenience as much as possible. I have a lot of clients from Scotland who will happily drive to Manchester rather than deal with a flight connection and the additional risks with that.”
Kirsten Martis-Breadmore, of Dream Travel by Kirsten, said: “I have a lot of clients Manchester way. As soon as we heard rumblings I switched them all as clients wanted to secure direct flights and didn’t mind the little bit of extra money for that.”
‘Shot themselves in the foot’
Richard Slater, of Henbury Travel, pondered whether Aer Lingus’ recent “aggressive” direct marketing drive had led some agents to step away from promoting and selling the airline.
“There’s been no mention of ‘seeing your agent’ in their adverts,” he said. “Maybe if they had engaged better with the trade, and played nicely, things would be different.
“Maybe they’ve shot themselves in the foot – they’ve burnt their bum.”
Aer Lingus’ statement continued: “There is no impact on Aer Lingus or Aer Lingus Regional flights between Manchester and Ireland.
“We appreciate our customers' patience and cooperation during this time and we are contacting customers directly regarding their flights.”
Regarding Manchester employees, the airline said: “Following a series of consultation meetings over November and December regarding the future of the Manchester base operated by Aer Lingus’s UK subsidiary (Aer Lingus UK), staff at Manchester were informed on 8 January that the process will now enter a phase of consultation for the purpose of mitigating job losses which would occur in the event of a base closure.
“While consideration of proposals for avoiding and/or reducing redundancies will continue, it is important to also address contingencies in the event that the base closes.
“We acknowledge that this is an uncertain and difficult time for our colleagues in Manchester and we will seek to ensure that colleagues are kept informed and supported.”
The airline shared full information regarding customers’ rights under EU261: EU Regulation 261/2004.
