DAA boss confident first staff will leave in September as talks progress
DUBLIN Airport boss Dalton Philips has said he expects the first DAA staff to leave under the company’s voluntary severance scheme in early September.
“If it was a sports game, you’d say we are down to the business end of things,” Philips told staff in a video message.
The DAA chief executive said the company was “really making good progress” in talks with Siptu, Forsa and Mandate, and he hoped to be able to bring a firm agreement to the semi-state company’s board by early next week. A trade union ballot would likely be required to ratify a deal.
“We’re having to do things differently. It’s a new world that we are going into and we will need to have new work practices.
“There has really been some very constructive dialogue. The biggest issue has been around rosters and I can understand that because the reality is rosters will need to move and adjust to different traffic patterns. It is complicated and there is uncertainty around it.”
Last week the Sunday Independent reported that 870 staff had expressed interest in taking the package. Philips has previously made it clear that the scheme, a central part of the company’s Covid plan, is dependent on the acceptance of the work practice changes currently under negotiation.
In the video message, Philips completely dismissed rumours that had spread widely through messaging groups used by airport staff claiming the voluntary severance would not proceed.
“There are a number of rumours I have heard around that the VSS [voluntary severance scheme] is not happening. Look, they are just rumours. The fact is, this is a large, complex programme. It needs a number of approvals through that process but I can tell you that the board and I, and the senior team, are 100pc behind that plan. Yes, there is some governance that we have to navigate but we are working our way through that and I am confident of seeing those early exits happen in September.”
The severance scheme needs to be approved by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform but this is expected to happen, it is understood.
He also discounted as “absolute nonsense” and as “a crazy rumour” speculation in staff and trade union circles that rejection of the likely upcoming ballot — as happened at Aer Lingus — could see the DAA close a terminal at Dublin Airport to save money.
“The majority of business — about 85pc — is going through Terminal 1 but T2 is a critical part of our business. That’s where we have the CBP [US customs and border patrol] operation and I can confirm categorically I don’t have any team working on any plan to shut our terminals.”