Aer Lingus has proposed cutting up to 500 jobs, including 290 roles at its Dublin Airport head office, 140 cabin crew positions and 70 pilots, under a cost-cutting plan driven by a €103m (£87m) loss in the first quarter of 2026.
The airline, which employs about 6,000 people, said the redundancies are part of a broader restructuring that will see a 6% reduction in flight capacity, with several poorly performing routes scrapped. From late September 2026, services from Dublin to Denver, Minneapolis, Las Vegas, Split will be discontinued, while Dublin to Seattle, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Malta will become summer-only operations.
“Aer Lingus proposes 500 job cuts and drops five US routes after a €103m first-quarter loss.”
Aer Lingus blamed the proposed cuts on a “continued challenging macro-economic environment, increased transatlantic competition, fuel costs” and the heavy losses in early 2026. The airline said it aims to achieve a 12%-15% operating margin to attract future investment.
“The transformation aims to set Aer Lingus up for the future,” said chief executive Lynne Embleton, adding that the changes will allow the airline to “fulfil its ambition to be the airline of choice connecting Europe with North America” and make a “significant economic contribution to Ireland”.
Irish trade union Fórsa said the proposed job losses “will come as a profound shock to workers across the airline”. The union’s “immediate priority” is to engage with Aer Lingus “to ensure that every possible step is taken to minimise the need for compulsory redundancies”.
The network changes will also reduce the use of two A330 aircraft and four A320 aircraft for peak summer 2027. Customers affected by route cancellations will be “contacted directly and provided with re-accommodation or refund options”, the airline said.
The consultation process will focus on “reducing redundancies and potential future redundancies and on what needs to be done to secure future investment in the business”, a spokesperson said.