annual report 2009 - Aer Lingus

Corporate Social Responsibility Statement Aer Lingus Group Plc – Annual Report 200921School’s Art Competition – pictured: St Colmcille’s Primary School P6 classalong with teacher, Mrs Logue, Aer Lingus cabin crew member, June Courtenageand Aer Lingus Business Development Manager, Andrea Hunter.Pictured at the departure of the special Aer Lingus GOAL Relief flight to Haiti at Dublin Airport, Friday 22 January, were from left:David El Masri, Aircraft Loader, Declan Kearney, Head of Customer Service, Helen Hempenstall, Cabin Crew, John O’Shea, Chief Executive of GOAL and Alison Moran, Cabin Crew.The Airbus A330 aircraft, St Ronan, flew directly from Dublin to La Romana airport in the Dominican Republic to deliver over 25 tonnes of much needed emergency medical and food suppliesto earthquake survivors in Haiti. The flights also carried 15 doctors and volunteers to Haiti. Aer Lingus employees volunteered their time to organise the special flight which was in co-operationwith the Irish aid agency GOAL.Quality AssuranceThe Quality Management System includesboth technical and operational activities. Itperforms the oversight and audit functionof Aer Lingus and contracted organisationsin order to comply with the requirementsof EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency)and JAR (Joint Aviation Regulations).SecurityAer Lingus ensures that staff are madeaware of the need for a high level of securityat all times. The Group’s Corporate SecurityOffice acts in an advisory and consultativecapacity in relation to all aspects of securityand provides management with generalguidelines in relation to security and lossprevention. The aim of aviation security is toprotect passengers, crew, staff, and membersof the public and civil aviation in generalfrom acts of unlawful interference.Aer Lingus ensures that both directlyemployed staff and handling agents are madeaware of the need for a high level of securityat all times. Aer Lingus achieves this aim bycompliance with all aviation securitystatutory and regulatory requirements injurisdictions where operations areundertaken. We fully co-operate with lawenforcement agencies and adopt a proactiveapproach to the development of bestpractice in all areas of aviation security.Aer Lingus continues to ensure its DisruptivePassenger Policy is followed. This policy hasbeen made available to all staff and handlingagents to minimise disruption to passengersand prevent and detect behaviour thatcauses discomfort, inconvenience, or injuryto other passengers or the crew.Security forms part of the IOSA programme andagain in 2009 Aer Lingus received confirmationof its successful compliance with its IATAOperational Safety Audit (IOSA).StaffAer Lingus recognises the importance ofthe contribution made by staff in deliveringcontinuous improvement in organisationalperformance and results and values theknowledge, skills and experience ofemployees. Aer Lingus supports trainingand development of staff to ensure thesafe and efficient operation of the business.RecruitmentAer Lingus policy on recruitment and selectionis to provide the organisation with the peoplehaving the skills, competencies and aptitudeto meet our strategic objectives; to provideequal access to all qualified candidates andavoid all forms of discrimination; and to selectthe candidate most suitable for the job inquestion on the basis of pre-set criteria. TheGroup fills vacancies through the provisionof opportunities for existing staff to progresswithin the organisation, combined with therecruitment of specific expertise and skills