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by Fearghal O'Connor

Trade union IMPACT will meet Aer Lingus management today in the hope of dissuading them from following a "Plan C" that will impose 230 compulsory redundancies on the cabin crew it represents.

But the airline has insisted that there will be no sweetheart deals for a group that rejected a cost cutting plan accepted by a range of other groupings at the airline.

Four of the five unions at Aer Lingus balloted to accept a €97m restructuring plan. Chief executive Christoph Mueller insisted that management must respect that vote and look for 440 voluntary redundancies from amongst these workers. The airline had planned to impose over 1,000 compulsory redundancies as a so-called "Plan B".

But cabin crew now face the sharp end of a "Plan C" after Aer Lingus informed the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment of the commencement of a 30-day compulsory consultation period to impose 230 compulsory redundancies from amongst these staff.

Following today's meeting with the airline's management, IMPACT, which had recommended acceptance of the cost cutting plan, is expected to consult its members at Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports.

According to a statement from the Department of Transport, the Government is satisfied, from all of the information available to it, that a major restructuring of the group’s cost base is essential if Aer Lingus is to survive.

“The cost base of Aer Lingus is seriously out of line with that of its competitors," it said. "Airlines throughout the world are either rationalising or going out of business as a result of the global economic downturn. The Government wants to see a strong, viable Aer Lingus in the future. The cornerstones of Government aviation policy are competitiveness and connectivity. A viable Aer Lingus is key to ensuring the achievement of these objectives.”

But the challenges facing the airline were further underlined yesterday by financial results from the airline. Operating losses at Aer Lingus quadrupled in 2009 according to an unaudited trading update issued after the airline postponed publishing full results because of the standoff with staff over the cost cutting plan.

The airline saw its operating loss rise to 81 million euros from 20 million euros in 2008.Total revenue at the airline declined 11 percent to 1.2 billion euros as ancillary revenues -- fees charged for services such as checking bags -- helped cushion reduced passenger fares and cargo revenues.

Total passengers for the year rose 3.8 percent to 10.4 million -- less than a sixth of the number carried by Ryanair -- as the former flag carrier charged passengers less to fly resulting in a 13 percent fall in fare revenue.

"The numbers they gave weren't too bad -- or were less worse -- but you still have further details to come down the line and it's being very lightly traded. It's a little bit off the radar for a lot of people," one Dublin-based trader said.

Most analysts view the cost cutting plan as crucial to its future health.

"It's imperative that they get the cost deal through. The market is losing patience because the revenue line remains difficult," Stephen Furlong, analyst at Davy Stockbrokers said.

(additional reporting by Reuters)