Ex-airline boss suffered 40pc cut in salary

Dermot Mannion, former deputy chairman of Royal Brunei Airlines and former Aer Lingus CEO

John Mulligan

Former Aer Lingus boss Dermot Mannion was paid a total of €652,000 last year, over 40pc less than in 2007.

The figure was revealed in the airline's annual report published yesterday, which shows that Mr Mannion, who stepped down as chief executive early last month, received no bonus last year. In 2007, he had received a performance-related payment of €335,000, while he also benefited to the tune of €312,000 in pension payments. His total remuneration package that year was over €1.1m.

In 2008, Mr Mannion's basic salary was €485,000, up from €433,000 in 2007. He received pension contributions from the airline of €128,000 last year.

Total director remuneration in 2008 fell to €1.7m from €2.2m in 2007.

The annual report also shows that Aer Lingus spent over €5.8m last year defending a second takeover bid from its majority shareholder, Ryanair. That came on top of over €7.8m it spent in 2007 on its first successful attempt to rebuff Ryanair's first bid.

The Aer Lingus annual report does not provide any detail of another expense incurred last year, when it settled a long-running legal case with former chief executive Michael Foley relating to his dismissal in 2001 following allegations of sexual harassment.