THERE WERE no doubt many things at Aer Lingus that chief executive Christoph Mueller didn’t like the look of when he took the controls last September. Chief among them, it seems, was its grey and ageing head office building at Dublin airport, which resembles a drab, Soviet-era office block and faces towards the terminal buildings.
Mueller this week took decisive action, draping a large tarpaulin over the front of the offices, featuring a smiling female cabin crew member and the the slogan “Welcome to our Home” writ large.
In a note to staff, the airline’s senior brass said this would act as a “warm welcome to all overseas visitors” and a “friendly greeting to returning Irish residents”.
It will also build on the “strong first impression that our own passengers will have received on board” and “reminds us internally that we all have a role to play in the Aer Lingus customer experience and our passengers choose us, in part, because we deliver this in a unique way”.
“We hope you agree that this is a strong message reflecting the pride we have in our brand and the role we all have in the customer experience,” it added.
As is often the case with these signs, the Aer Lingus banner, which covers four floors of the office block and presumably cost a few bob to put in place, was erected without formal planning approval from Fingal County Council.
Mueller, meanwhile, will appraise the board of Aer Lingus of future strategic plans this morning, before briefing investors in London on Tuesday. Next week’s investor day will be kicked off by chairman Colm Barrington and will also involve interim CFO Andew Macfarlane. We await it with interest.
