According to the document, which forms part of the DAA's 'Shaping the Future' internal communications programme, feedback from staff groups "has repeatedly emphasised that the company and its leadership do not have a clear sense of direction, that pride in the company has been lost, and that its reputation has diminished".

The leak comes as union sources at the DAA said 85% of its workforce is engaged in serious industrial disputes with the company. It is understood there are also around another 35 ongoing minor individual disputes at Dublin airport alone.

"It's the very first time that every single member of our branch has issues with the company that haven't been resolved, " said the head of Siptu's civil aviation branch, Dermot O'Loughlin.

He said the leaked briefing seemed to reflect accurately the low morale of workers at the company and their dissatisfaction with its management.

The document consists of briefing notes for managers giving two-hour workshops for staff to "develop awareness of the business context and the need for change". The workshops were aimed at "reinforcing the team ethos and conveying a common message".

It states that the programme was the result of a series of meetings of the company's senior executives, who had become increasingly concerned about falling morale at the DAA.

It lists suggested answers to frequency asked questions that managers may have to confront from disgruntled staff. One of the suggestions is that managers concede the claim that the DAA's management never listened to its staff.

The recommended answer states: "I accept this has been the case, for a number of reasons, in some areas". Managers are then advised to promise staff that they will be given every opportunity to contribute "to the success of this programme".

However, the document contains details of the DAA's strategic objectives, which the company's executives had already agreed before the communications process began.

A spokesman for the DAA said the document was a year old and that staff morale at the company had improved considerably since then. He said the workshops were designed "inform staff of the company's new strategic and business objectives and [to] motivate [them] to succeed in the very fast-changing" aviation business.

"In relation to the proposed response to the first question about listening to staff, it is recognition of the fact that during the last years under Aer Rianta, because that company was being restructured by the government, some managers may not have listened to staff, because they were preoccupied with other issues."

He said the DAA's internal communications programme, which includes regular briefings by the company's chief executive, had been well-received by staff.