New Ryanair woe as Irish pilots vote in favour of industrial action

TENS of thousands of Ryanair passengers face major disruption after the airline’s Irish-based unionised pilots voted overwhelmingly for industrial action.

Barring any last-minute deal over the weekend between the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (IALPA) and Ryanair, the union is set to serve the airline with notice of action early next week. With the summer season still under way, and the end of the school holidays looming, Ryanair operates as many as 230 flights a day in and out of Dublin alone.

When full, those flights could carry a total of about 43,000 passengers, who would face chaos in the event of a 24-hour strike.

The airline operates 15 flights from Belfast International Airport and two from City of Derry.

The airline insisted that the threat of industrial action “has no mandate from Ryanair pilots” and that it is “illtimed” with Brexit just weeks away.

“Forsa should continue in mediation and avoid threatening unnecessary disruptions to customers holidays and travel plans,” it said. IALPA, which operates under the umbrella of trade union Forsa, must give Ryanair seven days’ notice of any action.

That means strikes could occur as early as Tuesday week — the same day UK Ryanair pilots who are members of the British Airline Pilots’ Association with investors having already seen shares in the airline tumble since earlier this year.

Ryanair’s profits have been hit by lower fares and higher payroll and fuel costs.

The delay in the return of the Boeing 737 Max jet to service also prompted chief executive Michael O’Leary (left), to warn staff last week that the airline may have to axe as many as 900 jobs, including 500 pilots.