Aer Lingus gets new US route

Dublin, London: Aer Lingus Group Plc, the Irish airline that's battling a takeover bid from Ryanair Holdings Plc, plans to start flights between Washington and Madrid next year in partnership with UAL Corp's United Airlines.

Seats on the route will be sold by both carriers and Aer Lingus' aircraft will be used, Chief Executive Officer Dermot Mannion said in Dublin yesterday. There will be "joint branding" and the airlines will share the commercial benefits and risk equally. Flights will begin in March 2010.

Aer Lingus is taking advantage of the so-called open skies aviation treaty that allowed wider access to trans-Atlantic routes for US and European Union carriers starting in March 2008. The Madrid service would be Dublin-based Aer Lingus' first US route that doesn't serve an Irish city.

The agreement with United "will enable Aer Lingus to maximize the opportunities provided by open skies," Mannion said. Aer Lingus is "confident this is going to be a successful operation," and the carrier may add routes in 2011.

Aer Lingus and UAL will review the partnership after two years and may turn it into a "full blown joint venture," with the Irish carrier owning 51 per cent.

United's pilot union opposes the agreement, saying it would allow the Chicago-based carrier to establish an airline operation that doesn't use its own aircraft or employees.

The partnership "is nothing less than the outsourcing of jobs to an international company," Steve Wallach, head of the Air Line Pilots Association at the US carrier, said in a statement. "The United pilots are exploring every option to put an end to the company's blatant disregard and lack of loyalty to the United Airlines brand."

United didn't immediately return a call and e-mail seeking comment. The airline yesterday reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $1.3 billion, including costs tied to fuel hedging contracts. The airline also said it would cut another 1,000 management and salaried jobs, bringing to 9,000 the number of positions to be eliminated by the end of 2009.

Washington Dulles airport is the third-biggest hub for United, the No. 3 US airline, with 280 daily flights.

Aer Lingus flies to New York, Washington, Chicago, San Francisco and Orlando, Florida, from Dublin and Shannon, and it has Internet marketing links with New York-based JetBlue Airways Corp. The Irish carrier said in December that it will open a hub at London's Gatwick airport to serve European routes.

The airline is fending off a 1.40 euro-a-share offer by Dublin-based Ryanair. Aer Lingus's board has rejected the bid, which values the carrier at about 748 million euros ($964 million), or half the original offer.