Aer Lingus pilots vote to strike

Aer Lingus plans to lay off 80 pilots

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Pilots at Ireland's national airline -- Aer Lingus -- have overwhelmingly voted to strike in protest at efforts to cut staff.

In final results announced on Thursday, 475 pilots voted to strike while 14 pilots opposed the move. Approximately 50 others abstained.

Most ballots were cast before Aer Lingus managers offered late on Wednesday to give pilots more generous severance packages.

Impact, the union representing the pilots, called that offer a publicity stunt and said its strike would go ahead unless Aer Lingus managers immediately withdrew their plans to cut 80 pilots.

Union chiefs did not say when pilots would withdraw their services, but in a statement Aer Lingus said any strike now -- when the airline was already struggling -- could prove "catastrophic."

Warning that the airline might otherwise collapse, Aer Lingus in October negotiated with the government on plans to slash the state-backed airline's staff by more than 2,000. It also reduced its routes.

The airline's problems deepened following the September 11 terror attacks in the United States, when traffic fell on the most profitable transatlantic routes.

Aer Lingus has also been hit by the rise of no-frills airline Ryanair, which has stormed ahead recently with plans to buy more planes and open new routes.

Ryanair stock in Dublin rose more than five percent on Thursday.