Puff pieces don’t come much puffier than Inside Aer Lingus (Virgin Media One, 9pm), a dull infomercial masquerading as a behind-the-scenes documentary. The big pitch is that Virgin Media has been granted exclusive access to Aer Lingus operations at Dublin Airport – but a potentially promising idea is wasted by a film that serves as a glorified commercial for the airline.
All of the controversies that have attended Aer Lingus since the pandemic – particularly, the 2024 work-to-rule by pilots and the confusion caused by the Dublin passenger cap – are conspicuous by their absence in an opening episode that features enough airbrushing to cover a Boeing 747.
Goodness, it’s dull. From Tommy Bowe’s soporific narration to interviewees with nothing-burger observations such as “aviation is fast moving”, the 45-minute documentary is a one-way ticket to snooze-land. All potential plot hooks are ruthlessly removed. For instance, we are introduced to a group of new cabin crew trainees and learn that the Aer Lingus training course is rigorous and that there is no guarantee of making it through. Yet when we later come back to the crew on their graduation day, it is not revealed if any flunked or whether the entire class successfully passed. There is no sense of jeopardy or achievement.
Virgin Media also interviews Captain Kelly Dolan and first officer Jen Ryan. But there is no mention of the industrial unrest which plunged the airline into chaos over the summer. Nor are they asked about their experiences as women in a historically male-dominated profession. Has the glass ceiling been shattered? Is it more challenging to succeed as a female pilot than a male one? It would have been fascinating to hear their perspectives, but these questions are left to hang in the air.
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As is often the case with Irish documentaries, Inside Aer Lingus also suffers from packing in too much – like that optimistic holidaymaker trying to bung an extra pair of shoes into a suitcase. One minute, we’re hanging out at the check-in desk; the next, we’re in the bowels of the airport, with the luggage handlers, and then zipping around on the tarmac with the ground crew.
Oh, and then the Irish rugby team arrive and are fawned over like Hollywood dignitaries (would a mere GAA or soccer team receive similar treatment?) Next, it’s off to Orlando with cabin attendee Daniel.
The entire affair is both dull and exhausting, and you come away with no clearer sense of what makes Aer Lingus tick – only that Virgin Media remains the past master of the disposable-as-a-vape genre of cheap and cheerful doc that fills the airtime but which tells you nothing you didn’t know already.
