Aertime December 2014 by Ashville Media Group

DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

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CHRISTOPH'S MESSAGE // CORNWALL ROUTE // MINI FILMS LEONA THE TURTLE // NOVAIR // NEW BIA RANGE

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19/12/2014 16:05

Aertime Christmas Message from the CEO

HAPPY CHRISTMAS FROM CHRISTOPH Dear Colleagues, Expansion, new routes, company values, baggage difficulties… if nothing else, 2014 has proved to be yet another interesting and challenging year for us all. Firstly and most importantly I would like to thank you all for your continued dedication and hard work throughout the year in helping to deliver another safe year for Aer Lingus alongside the best possible customer experience to all our customers. Our people make us who we are and it is your hard work that allows us to differentiate ourselves from our competitors in the eyes of our customers. At the beginning of the year we introduced to you our vision for ‘Connecting Ireland to the World’ and the strategy behind that vision, which saw us embark on a major expansion of our North American network. In April we expanded our long haul fleet and launched two new routes from Dublin to San Francisco and Toronto, and at the same time doubled our transatlantic frequency from Shannon. In July we moved from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 (The Queen’s Terminal) at London Heathrow. The new terminal constitutes a major improvement in the customer experience at our most important destination airport and the positive feedback we continue to receive from our customers further commends the hard work that went into making our move to Europe’s newest terminal a reality. The improved product has given a major commercial boost to our Heathrow services from all four bases in Belfast, Cork, Dublin and Shannon. ‘Connecting Ireland to the World’ has also been an important theme in our alliance and partnership strategy. In 2014 we continued to grow our relationships with Stobart Air, United Airlines, JetBlue, British Airways, KLM, Air Canada, Etihad and the recently announced new Flybe codeshare agreement. We also launched a new relationship with Air Contractors Limited through the successful addition of the Boeing 757 operation to our long haul network. The successful integration of the B-757 into our operation through an innovative ‘damp-leasing’ business model is a testament to the flexibility of our business and our team. Our combined offering with partner airlines and the growth of our transfer business has helped Dublin become the seventh largest European airport for flights to North America. Of course the expansion of our network and higher passenger numbers create new challenges and unfortunately it was not all good news this year. During the summer we experienced operational difficulties with delays, baggage issues, strikes and threatened strikes all negatively affecting our customers. Without the loyalty and dedication of our front line colleagues during the summer the impact of these difficulties on our customers would have been far greater.

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The introduction of the ‘Voice of the Customer’ survey is just one of the steps we have taken to prevent future operational issues, which affect our customers, from developing. On a separate note, I hope that in 2015 we will establish the means of resolving workplace issues within Aer Lingus without causing operational difficulties and passenger disruption. I believe that the creation of an internal dispute resolution process in 2015 will be an important step in achieving that goal. September was another significant milestone as the Aer Lingus Values and Behaviours were communicated following a feedback process where your colleagues told us what it means to be an Aer Lingus employee. The Aer Lingus culture is unique, we share a proud service legacy, and to create a successful future for Aer Lingus it is important that the values defined by your Aer Lingus colleagues are at the heart of how we all interact with each other. Investment in our people was also a common theme throughout the year with the continuation of successful programmes such as the Leadership Development Programme and the Supervisor Development Programme. We also completed Customer Service Programmes for our Inflight Services and Ground Operations colleagues and launched a new Commander Programme for our captains in Flight Operations. In addition, a new Maintenance and Engineering Apprentice Scheme was launched during the summer while in September we began the search for future Aer Lingus pilots with the launch of a new cadet programme. As we near the end of 2014, it appears that a resolution to the difficulties facing the IASS pension scheme is in sight. The recent positive employee ballot and shareholder vote were both important steps on the way to resolving this very complex and serious issue. Looking towards 2015, I am confident that Aer Lingus will continue to grow profitably. We will see the introduction of the new Aer Lingus Business Class in April and the further expansion of our North American route network with the introduction of a new Washington DC service in May alongside increased capacity to New York, Orlando and San Francisco. I would like to wish you and your families a very happy Christmas and a healthy and prosperous 2015.

Regards, Christoph Mueller

19/12/2014 16:05

Latest News Aertime

New Mini Films Launch Marketing Aer Lingus to UK and European customers as the smart choice to North America offering the cheapest fares, award-winning service and ease and speed of hubbing via Ireland is one of the key objectives for our colleagues in the Marketing Department. To help promote this strategy, our Marketing team have produced a series of mini films to highlight that flights via Ireland preclear US Customs and Border Protection in Dublin and Shannon so "you arrive in the States before you depart" rather than facing lengthy queues upon arrival. The mini films will be targeted at key regions across the UK with tailored content and targeted placements for maximum impact. You can view one example of the campaign by visiting http://aerling.us/smartchoicevideo

Launch of New Family First Offering To further enhance our long tradition of being the airline of choice for families, our Retail team recently launched a new Family First product offering half price on baggage and seat selection for children. Available to families when they prebook their baggage, the new product offers discounts of 50 per cent on checked baggage and seat selection for children aged 2-11 on short haul travel. Speaking about the launch of this great new family product, Mike Rutter, Chief Revenue Officer said: “Irish families have chosen to entrust their precious holidays to Aer Lingus for nearly 80 years. This year they know they can continue to trust their holiday plans to Aer Lingus as we reinforce our offer to Irish families, with super value prices to the sun and our new family discount scheme. "Aer Lingus is proud to be the preferred option by eight out of ten customers in the Irish market and we hope today's announcement will cement that preference. As Ireland's most searched for transport brand our customers know they can find out more about Family First and our super value prices at aerlingus.com."

Three major awards for Aer Lingus

Aer Lingus Fasts for Concern Ireland A special mention this month goes to a number of our Hangar 6 colleagues who recently completed a 24-hour fast in aid of Concern Ireland. Taking part in the Concern fast is now an annual event for a group of our IT colleagues and this year was no different as their efforts raised an outstanding ¤2,930!

Aer Lingus was awarded the title of Best Airline to Europe and Best Airline to North America at the Irish Travel Trade Awards 2014 in an event attended by over 300 travel industry representatives. The awards were voted for by members of the travel industry on the island of Ireland. In further good news, Aer Lingus also picked up the accolade of Best Short Haul Airline at the Irish Travel Media Awards, the only awards that call on the media to vote for their favourite companies in the travel trade.

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This year’s team included Robert Fogarty, Jim Durham, Mark Queally (Commercial Department), Paul Brodbin, John Greene and Harry Singh. Thanks to the generosity of Aer Lingus colleagues, friends and families, your donations have gone directly to Concern Worldwide’s programmes to help save lives in some of the world’s poorest countries.

19/12/2014 16:06

Aertime Latest News

LIVING OUR VALUES As the Aer Lingus Values and Behaviours are rolled out across the company, Aertime would like to share the following great example of honesty shown by one of our Maintenance and Engineering apprentices in Dublin recently. Eoin Collopy was assisting with the departure of an A330 to Orlando when just before pushback he found an envelope on the ramp. As it was raining heavily at the time, the envelope was stuck to the ramp and it initially looked like a piece of rubbish. However, before throwing it in an FOD bin he checked inside the envelope to find it contained a large amount of cash. As the fight had now pushed, Eoin spoke to his colleagues in Ground Operations and advised them of what he had found. After some investigation work from the team and a call back from the flight crew it was established that a couple who were bringing their young children to Orlando had left the envelope in their child's buggy during boarding and it had blown onto the ramp. The money was wire transferred to MCO and was available for them when they arrived for their holiday. Do you have a story to share where one of your colleagues highlighted one or more of the Aer Lingus values? If so, please send your story to aertime@aerlingus.com so that we can share further examples of the Aer Lingus culture in future editions.

Leona the Loggerhead Turtle Jets Off to Her New Home We had a very special customer travelling with us recently as Leona, an endangered loggerhead turtle, travelled to Las Palmas in Gran Canaria to complete her journey back to her natural warm water habitat. It was just over one year since Leona was found washed up and stranded on Quilty Beach, Co Clare. Leona was close to death at the time after last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s severe storms resulted in her getting lost and entering water far too cold for a loggerhead turtle. The turtle was nursed back to health by the Galway Atlantiquarium before being passed fit to return to the sea. Upon arriving in Gran Canaria, Leona was given one final check-up to ensure that she had suffered no ill effects from her epic journey before being released back into the wild on Wednesday December 4th. You can follow Leonaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s progress since her release via www.celestialgreenventures.com/leona-loggerhead-turtle

SECOND YEAR OF NOVAIR OPERATIONS The second year of Aer Lingus operating an A330 widebody aircraft on behalf of Swedish airline Novair got off to a great start in our Integrated Operations Centre recently. Following months of hard work, the first flight of the season took off safely from Stockholm to Cancun and our colleagues in the IOC organised a Caribbeanthemed day to celebrate. Our partnership with Novair consists of an Aer Lingus-operated aircraft serving four Caribbean destinations from Scandinavia during the winter season. EI-DAA will be based in Stockholm and will operate flights to Mexico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Trinidad and Tobago, from both Stockholm and Gothenburg. Colleagues throughout Aer Lingus help provide the operation with an A330-200 aircraft, operating pilots, training for cabin crew, maintenance, flight planning and load planning while our colleagues in the Integrated Operations Centre maintain operational control of the flights to and from the Caribbean. Do you have a story we could feature in Aertime? Then email us at: aertime@aerlingus.com

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Latest News Aertime

NEW BIA RANGE The latest range of Bia, our onboard food offering, went on sale on December 3rd. Created in collaboration with Irish TV chef Clodagh McKenna, the latest menu offers some brand new tasty treats for our customers to enjoy with a combination of pulled ham and coleslaw, and turkey and brie sliders being just two of the highlights. Also back by popular demand are the chicken caesar wrap, carrot muffin and crilled Caprese panini.

LATEST NEWS DUBLIN TO PARIS ORLY BY TRANSAVIA

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Clodagh’s Macaroni Kids & Cheese

December - June

Menu created in collaboration with Clodagh’s Kitchen

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French low-cost airline transavia.com, owned by the Air France-KLM group, is to launch a new Boeing 737800 year-round daily service between Dublin and ParisOrly Airport from next June. With a subsidiary base at Orly, the Dublin route is the first scheduled service to Ireland from the south Paris airport.

AIRBUS A350 QATAR MOMENTUM

Sinead O’Neil, Retail Manager says: “The introduction of our latest Bia range is a great addition to our retail offering. Since its introduction, Bia has proved extremely popular with customers and early feedback indicates that the latest range will be equally well received. The latest menu would not have been possible without the hard work of numerous departments across Aer Lingus and I would like to thank them all for their support and dedication to the project.” Ham Co. Monaghan

New Aer Lingus Regional Cornwall Route Commencing on May 1st 2015, Aer Lingus Regional will begin operating flights to Newquay Cornwall from Dublin, with up to five flights a week during the summer season. Cornwall is a world-famous tourist destination, home to idyllic scenery, traditional cuisine and home to the “Eighth Wonder of the World”, the Eden Project. Famed for its massive biodomes, the sprawling botanical garden features exotic plants from around the world. Speaking at the launch of the new route, Julian Carr, Managing Director of Stobart Air, said: “Aer Lingus Regional is very pleased to be offering Ireland’s first route to Cornwall. We are confident that it will become a popular route, and a key part of our summer services. The addition of Newquay, our 13th route from Dublin Airport, reflects the ongoing success of our airline in providing value and key connections for our customers.”

Momentum is building up for the service introduction of the all-new Airbus A350 XWB due on Thursday January 15th with a DohaFrankfurt flight. Qatar Airways has announced the official handover of the first aircraft for Saturday December 13th in Toulouse. Qatar has 80 Airbus A350s on order, and expects to be flying eight aircraft by the 2015 year-end. They will be configured in a dual-cabin 283-seat arrangement with 36 Business Class and 247 Economy Class seats.

CITYJET – STOBART AIR CONTRACT Stobart Air is now operating CityJet’s Cardiff-based routes. Unlike its road transport sister company, Stobart Air is very lowprofile as far as its public awareness is concerned, also flying routes for Aer Lingus Regional and Flybe. Stobart Air will offer CardiffEdinburgh twice daily, and Cardiff-Paris daily.

Do you have a story we could feature in Aertime? Then email us at: aertime@aerlingus.com

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19/12/2014 16:08

Aertime Competitions

WORD SEARCH

CHRISTMAS QUIZ

To win a fantastic a 50 One4All voucher, scan and email the word search to aertime@aerlingus.com or post to Internal Communications, Shamrock House, Dublin Airport.

To win a fantastic a 50 One4All voucher, email your answers to aertime@aerlingus.com or post to Internal Communications, Shamrock House, Dublin Airport.

6. Suet is an ingredient in which popular festive treats?

7. What season is observed by many western Christian

AER BEHAVIOURS BIA BOUTIQUE COURAGE CUSTOMER DAY

DIFFERENCE FRANCISCO HONESTY HUMANITY LINGUS PERFORMANCE SAN

SERVICE STANDARDS TEAM TORONTO VALUES VOICE WASHINGTON

SUDOKU

1. The Beach Boys had a US Christmas number one in 1966 with which song?

2. Name the Christmas song with the initials ‘WIAWW’?

3. Which Lord Protector banned Christmas in 1647? 4. If written alphabetically, which of Santa's reindeer would come last?

5. What is Scrooge's first name?

churches in the lead up to Christmas?

8. How many UK Christmas No 1s did the Beatles have?

9. What small bird is central to an Irish tradition that takes place on St Stephen’s Day?

10. Who did the Soviets attempt to replace Santa Claus with in Eastern Europe?

11. O Tannenbaum is also the unofficial anthem of which

4 8

3 2 7

3 7

9 9 8

1 9 3 7 6 5

4 3 2 5

4 3 2

12. Name the the actress and film that introduced the song “Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas”

13. In the Batman version of ‘Jingle Bells’, why did the Joker get away?

14. In what country does Zwarte Piet help St Nicholas

9 2 2

with the festive season?

15. In the film ‘The Santa Clause’ what happens to the original Santa Claus?

16. What is the second biggest selling Christmas song of all time?

9 1

To win a fantastic a 50 One4All voucher, scan and email the sudoku to aertime@aerlingus.com or post to Internal Communications, Shamrock House, Dublin Airport.

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political party in Britain?

17. 'Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents,' grumbled Jo lying on the rug" is the opening line to what novel?

18. The World War I "Christmas truce" occurred along the Western Front in what year?

19/12/2014 16:08

Competitions Aertime

COMPETITION

WIN tickets to Ireland's number one visitor attraction!

The Guinness Storehouse provides an unforgettable welcome and a magical journey deep into the heart of the world-famous Guinness brand and we would like to give seven lucky readers the chance to see it for themselves. This historic building is central to Dublin's and Ireland's heritage, and has been continually updated to create a blend of fascinating industrial tradition with a contemporary edge. The seven floors bring to life the rich heritage of Guinness, telling the story from its origins at St James's Gate in Dublin to its growth as a global brand, known all around the world. Indulge in a dramatic story that begins over 250 years ago and ends in Gravity Bar, where visitors receive a complimentary pint of Guinness while relaxing and enjoying spectacular views over Dublin.

In what month did Aer Lingus move into Heathrow T2? a) June b) July c) August To be in with a chance of WINNING THIS FANTASTIC PRIZE, email aertime@aerlingus.com with your answer, name, staff number and 'Storehouse' as the subject line.

WIN a two-night break for two at the Knockranny House Hotel & Spa!

Knockranny House Hotel & Spa is comfortable and genuinely welcoming, with a lovely spa, a terrific bar, great food and luxurious rooms. Called ‘an unmissable destination’ by the McKenna Guide, see what everyone’s talking about with a great prize – two nights' bed and breakfast for two midweek with one dinner in Knockranny’s award-winning La Fougère restaurant, and complimentary access to the Vitality Pool and Thermal Suites. See www.knockrannyhousehotel.ie for more amazing offers.

Aer Lingus Regional will begin flying to what English destination in May 2015? a) Cornwall b) Blackpool c) Bath To be in with a chance of WINNING THIS FANTASTIC PRIZE, email aertime@aerlingus.com with your answer, name, staff number and 'Knockranny' as the subject line.

The winner of last month’s Boutique prize was Paul Roche, Customer Contact Centre, Dublin.

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19/12/2014 16:08

Aertime What's Hot

A Movember To Remember Aer Lingus employees once again led the campaign to support men’s health this Movember by helping to raise an outstanding ¤35,000 in aid of the Irish Cancer Society. This year our fundraisers were joined by one of our A320 Aircraft, EI-DES, who also cultivated a Movember ‘Mo’ for the duration of November under the campaign slogan ‘Donate to Des’. Our Mo plane certainly gained a lot of attention during the month as sightings of ‘Des’ were posted on social media sites around Europe. Our network leaderboard fundraising champion and Mo’bro of the Month was Mark Osbourne, Strategic Sourcing, who raised ¤1,225 with his impressive mo. The prize for Mo’Sister of the Month went to Marie Walsh, IFS Team Manager Dublin, who was instrumental in planning and co-ordinating the weeklong Movember onboard appeal, which raised an incredible ¤21,627 of the overall total. Both were presented with their prizes by Chief Technology Officer Ravi Simhambhatla. Congratulations to all those bros (and our Movember plane ‘Des’) who played a part in making this year’s collection such a success. Your efforts have made a real difference to men’s health.

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