DAA offers severance and paid career breaks to staff
WORKERS at the Dublin and Cork airports with more than one year’s service are being offered the chance to take a career break of up to five years and still receive 20pc of their salary even if they take on a new job.
Those with more than 15 years’ service and who are aged between 50 and 59 can receive a lump sum to leave the DAA and continue to be paid a third of their salaries until their normal retirement date.
Those are just two of the measures the airport operator is offering workers as it tries to rapidly cut its staff numbers and operating costs following a collapse in air travel due to the coronavirus crisis.
It also has warned staff who decide to remain with the semi-State company that the business will be need to operate in a “radically different manner”.
In a circular to staff yesterday seen by the Irish Independent, DAA chief executive Dalton Philips said the company is “significantly reducing all nonpay costs, reviewing our capital spending, and re-sizing the business to bring us more in line with expected passenger traffic in the medium term”.
He added: “These are not decisions that we have taken lightly, however they are absolutely necessary. We are also introducing new ways of working across the business.”
“I am acutely aware that these options may present some of you with challenging life and career decisions,” he said. “For others, this will be an opportunity to change career, or perhaps to further your education or training.”
The DAA currently employs about 3,300 people in Ireland, with more working at its Aer Rianta International unit.
All staff members are being offered reduced working hours, while a voluntary severance scheme is being introduced.
The redundancy scheme is open to staff with at least four years’ continuous service.
For those aged under 60, a lump sum payment equating to four weeks’ pay for every year of service will be paid, capped at 104 weeks’ pay. That’s on top of statutory redundancy. A €10,000 lump sum for educational support or re-skilling also may be available.
For those aged 60 to 65, the same terms are being offered, with an overall cap of 50pc of basic pay between now and a worker’s normal retirement date, inclusive of a lump sum, statutory payment and educational support.
Mr Philips told staff last week that the combined traffic at the two airports might be as low as 21 million passengers in 2021. Dublin Airport alone handled 32.9 million travellers last year.