Aer Lingus is considering cutting up to 500 jobs as part of a major cost-cutting plan that includes reductions to its Dublin route network.
The Irish carrier said the proposed measures are in response to rising costs and increased competition on transatlantic routes.
The airline, which is owned by International Airlines Group (IAG), is proposing to remove around 290 head office roles at Dublin Airport, alongside 140 cabin crew positions and 70 pilot roles, according to the Irish Times.
Aer Lingus, which employs around 6,000 people, also plans to reduce flying capacity by 6% by cutting ‘poor performing routes’.
The affected services are all from Dublin, with flights to Denver, Las Vegas and Minneapolis in the US, as well as to Split in Croatia, set to be discontinued by the end of the year.
Dublin services to Seattle, Frankfurt and Hamburg and Malta will become summer-only operations.
The airline said the move follows a 25% reduction in senior management roles and forms part of a wider transformation programme aimed at improving profitability.
Aer Lingus reported a €103 million (£87m) loss in the first quarter of 2026 and cited rising fuel costs, including the impact of the US-Iran conflict, as a key challenge.
Chief Executive Lynne Embleton said the changes would help ensure the airline remains ‘a strong investment case’ and is able to ‘weather the turbulence’ facing the aviation industry.
Aer Lingus operates more than 100 routes across Europe and North America and is targeting a medium-term operating margin of 12-15% (total revenue left over after paying for daily operating expenses).
Its 2025 operating margin stood at 11.1%, below fellow IAG-owned carriers British Airways and Iberia, which both exceeded 15%.
The announcement of further possible job losses and planned route cuts follows Aer Lingus’ decision to end transatlantic flights from Manchester in March this year.
