A few weeks ago, I covered how Aer Lingus announced that it might end transatlantic flying out of the United Kingdom, which was an unusual announcement (airlines usually announce what they’re going to do, not what they might do). Well, there’s now an update, and the decision has been finalized, and this is officially happening.
In this post:
Aer Lingus cuts long haul Manchester flying
In late 2021, Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus commenced transatlantic flying out of Manchester (MAN), including to Bridgetown (BGI), New York (JFK), and Orlando (MCO).
The airline was looking for growth opportunities, and the idea was that Manchester was an underserved transatlantic market on a year-round basis (or something). With Aer Lingus being in the oneworld transatlantic joint venture (without actually being in the oneworld alliance), the airline saw an opportunity there.
For quite some time, there have been rumors that Aer Lingus would be ending long haul service out of Manchester. A few weeks back, the airline announced that it was “undergoing a period of uncertainty” in deciding whether to cut these flights. There’s now an official update, which is that these flights are ending. Here’s the announcement:
A decision has been taken to cease Aer Lingus’ Manchester transatlantic operations as of and from 31st March 2026. Manchester–New York operations will cease from 23rd February 2026 and Aer Lingus plans to operate a service from Dublin to Barbados (subject to receipt of necessary approvals) during the months of April and May to reaccommodate affected customers.
We do not expect there to be any impact to operations before these dates.
There is no impact to Aer Lingus or Aer Lingus Regional (Emerald Airlines) flights between Manchester and Ireland.
We understand that this is disappointing news and apologise for the disruption to our customers.
All impacted customers are being informed of the cancellation of flights directly and provided with reaccommodation and refund options.
Why is Aer Lingus ending Manchester flights?
Over the past several months, Aer Lingus has been in contract negotiations with the roughly 200 flight attendants based in Manchester. The company offered a 9% pay increase, but employees demanded bigger raises and improved conditions, claiming the raises being offered didn’t cover the increased cost of living.
We’ve seen Manchester-based flight attendants go on strike for extended periods, and it means that Aer Lingus’ Manchester operations have sort of been a mess in recent times.
Perhaps not so coincidentally, the company also claimed that the financial performance of Manchester flights “significantly lagged” the performance of flights out of Ireland, including from Dublin (DUB) and Shannon (SNN). Okay, aircraft are resources that have to be maximized, so it’s important to always send them where they can make the most money.
So at first, it was hard to know what to make of this. One wondered if the airline actually planned to follow through on those plans, or if the airline was simply making a threat as a bargaining technique. After all, Aer Lingus is an IAG company, which isn’t exactly known for its positive approach to labor. Just last year, we saw IAG shift around A321XLR orders, as leverage with Aer Lingus pilots.
But it seems that the company was serious about Manchester threats, as these flights are being ended. It is interesting that these changes are being made with just weeks of notice. Will Aer Lingus now instead launch some last minute routes out of Dublin, or…? I guess with the World Cup in the United States this year, filling flights from anywhere won’t be too difficult.
Bottom line
Aer Lingus has announced that it’s cutting all transatlantic flights from Manchester as of the spring of 2026, meaning the airline is ending flights to Bridgetown, New York, and Orlando. A few weeks ago the airline announced it might cut these flights, and now it’s following through on this.
This comes as the airline is having labor issues with Manchester flight attendants, who have been on strike in recent times. The airline claims the financial performance of these flights lags those out of Ireland, in which case it’s logical enough to shift around planes, assuming they can be flown more profitably from elsewhere.
What do you make of Aer Lingus cutting Manchester long haul flying?
FAFO. Unskilled labor pushed too hard. Companies are not charities, and they are not government jobs programs. Perhaps FAs around the world need to realize that as unskilled labor, perhaps you should be grateful of the inflated wages you already get relative to the general population, and if you want more money then increase your skillset instead of extorting companies, and therefore the general public, into paying them more than the market rate.
Think about what you say and then hope you never get in a situation where cabin crew have to deploy the skills they are trained in.
It's impressive how many bigoted tropes you can fill in one paragraph.
Please do tell the flight attendants exactly how you feel about them the next time you fly, preferably before meal and beverage services. Drink up!
(Mantis purports to be an American who abandoned us to live in Asia and frequents these blogs with hate-filled right-wing talking-points on the regular. Call it out when you see it.)
Ouch. What do you have against flight attendants?
Can't help but feel this is another case of getting out of the ridiculous APD in the UK. By moving those flights to Dublin the higher tax is avoided.
Unless the passengers are also moving house to Dublin, the APD is still payable for UK departing passengers - with additional taxes and charges for the connection in Dublin.
Manchester has been a difficult market for many years. We have quite often seen tag on flights (e.g., ET from GVA), less than daily service, etc. in order to mitigate low yields. EI had a bold approach, establishing evan an operating base - and has failed. There is just not enough revenue, except for the occasional holiday flight or twice weekly flights with high ethnic demand.
Does anyone care?
I'd imagine the workers, consumers (passengers, cargo, businesses) affected by this sure do. Now, you, personally, may not care at all, and that's fine, you do you, but let's not assume that just because you don't care, then, no one else does. I'd argue that we all should care when companies scapegoat and lie, because, next time they'll do it to you, and all of us. Accountability still matters, even if we're living through an...
I'd imagine the workers, consumers (passengers, cargo, businesses) affected by this sure do. Now, you, personally, may not care at all, and that's fine, you do you, but let's not assume that just because you don't care, then, no one else does. I'd argue that we all should care when companies scapegoat and lie, because, next time they'll do it to you, and all of us. Accountability still matters, even if we're living through an era of grift and global corruption. Times will change again, soon enough. It starts with each of us 'caring.'
I thought the called it AirFungus.
Well, companies can lie and scapegoat, but it doesn’t make it true. I feel for those workers and the consumers who now have less competition.
I wish they were more cunning than this… well, they don’t call it CunningLingus, now do they!
".... The airline was looking for growth opportunities, and the idea was that Manchester was an underserved transatlantic market on a year-round basis (or something)."
Airlines continue to amuse and amaze me. Subsidies have dried up, have they? How did they see growth opportunities? I wonder whose crystal ball they used for their projections.
Good. These flights should be operated by US airlines anyways.
What is up with Manchester?? All US airlines United, American and Delta have left MAN. BA does not even fly to the US from MAN?
@jim it all comes down to yields. Airlines are happy to service marginal routes when there are subsidies to be milked, but if those routes can't sustain themselves once the subsidies dry-up, then it's curtains.
Why?
Parker, I doubt that was even real Eskimo; the fake would likely say something provocative while impersonating.
@jim , it's nothing to do with Manchester itself. The US airlines don't fly to any European destination that doesn't have strong demand from the US point of sale. They'll happily fly to tertiary airports like the Corsican ones or SCQ, but they won't bother with Düsseldorf, Birmingham, or even WAW.
Why does no US airline fly to IST? Does TK aggressively kill competition?
No, Matt, it's because Erdogan's government is authoritarian, and it's a state-owned airline and airport. Ironically, UA flies EWR-DXB and AA flies PHL/JFK-DOH, yet, I guess no one 'loves' Turkey (yes, I spelled it correctly, in English; no I will not submit to a tyrant. Free İmamoğlu.)
Pathetic excuse from another corporation that thinks their employees' lives are like pristine hillsides meant to be strip-mined until the carved out husks of what they once were are all that is left. Those flight attendants are human beings with value and any relationship between employer and employee should be based on mutual respect. When the trust gap is broken between management and employee, the result is increasingly transactional relationships between both and a general...
Pathetic excuse from another corporation that thinks their employees' lives are like pristine hillsides meant to be strip-mined until the carved out husks of what they once were are all that is left. Those flight attendants are human beings with value and any relationship between employer and employee should be based on mutual respect. When the trust gap is broken between management and employee, the result is increasingly transactional relationships between both and a general souring of the culture.
I'd like a 9% raise
What information do you have that says the employees were not being paid sufficiently? Rather than just claiming "because they didn't get a pay increase", an evil corporation is exploiting them?
Well said, All Due Respect. Ignore the haters and corporate shills like Eric. Workers and consumers deserve better.