I know Ryanair pilots have grievances: but seriously, what kind of people time strikes to wreck Christmas?

MY initial feeling was of blessed relief. When I heard that Ryanair pilots based in Dublin were planning strike action over Christmas, my heart sank. I’m booked to travel next Friday (for a not inconsiderable €172.80, by the way, just to get to Gatwick with a preferred seat and a suitcase), to spend Christmas in Surrey with my sister, so when it became clear the day of action was scheduled for Wednesday, I was delighted.

Almost immediately, though, I felt rotten for being so happy. My plans seem to be intact, but what of those who weren’t so lucky? There must be thousands booked to fly that day, not only out of Dublin Airport, but also on the inbound flights. Simultaneously, Ryanair pilots in Portugal, Germany, Italy and Spain are planning industrial action, so the festive season all over Europe is threatened.

Christmas is probably the busiest time of the year, and it seems pretty unlikely there will be enough spare capacity on Thursday or Friday to accommodate the thousands discommoded.

At other times, if you only had planned a city break or short sun holiday, you might just write it off to bad experience, but not next week. You can’t just postpone Christmas, and no amount of compulsory compensation – between €250 and €400 on top of the refunded cost of your ticket, depending on the distance you had planned to travel – would make up for that.

Cynical

Each side in the dispute naturally blames the other. The pilots want the airline to recognise their unions, and engage in collective bargaining. Ryanair says the pilots are already well paid, earning up to €190,000 a year. It adds, whether true or not, that many of those are in any case working out notice periods before joining other airlines where the conditions, if not necessarily the pay, are better. If that is the case, then the action is particularly cynical.

My heart just goes out to the passengers affected. I know we have a lot planned, as must everyone else. My sister has spent much of this year having a fixer-upper house rebuilt from the ground up, and hasn’t even shared any photos of the result so we can enjoy it in all its glory when we arrive.

As we did last year, we will walk down to Reigate for a champagne brunch on Sunday, and while we’re far too old and sensible to do the 12 Pubs, we’ll certainly don the Christmas jumpers and Santa hats and make our way to three or four of them, before heading home for a Christseen mas Eve supper and a television binge.

On Christmas Day, we’ll cook the sausages, rashers and pudding I’ve been instructed to bring from Hick’s in Dún Laoghaire.

Then the turkey will go in the oven, the ham will boil before being glazed and baked, the carrots and parsnips prepared, and the spuds, swimming in goose fat, will go in the oven.

We’ll go to Mass – I’m not much of a Catholic, but I do it in memory of my parents, who wouldn’t be slow to deliver a good slap from beyond the grave if I missed it.

Gifts will be opened, we’ll watch Top Of The Pops, as we have done for the best part of 50 years now, and friends will drop in for a glass of fizz and nibbles (my sister makes amazing salmon, red onion and vodka blinis) before we finally sit down for the main event.

And, if past Christmases are anything to go by, we’ll take to the couches and watch the Strictly special episode, and Mrs Brown’s Boys, and French And Saunders, before crawling wearily to bed.

On St Stephen’s Day, we’ll go for a drive – it was to Brighton last year – and take a long walk to shake off the cobwebs, and on the Tuesday, we’ll probably hit the sales, if we have any energy left.

I detail all this only because I’m fairly sure it’s emblematic of the Christmas everyone flying next Wednesday had planned too. As things stand, they have no idea if they are going anywhere at all. Ryanair says it won’t be announcing contingency arrangements until Monday, when all the details will be published on its website, and so a nail-biting weekend lies ahead.

Don’t get me wrong – I have no problem with striking, but only as a last resort. My father delivered home central heating oil for a living, and had it not been for a strike in the Seventies, and the productivity deal that followed and resulted in sensible rosters, I scarcely would have him at all in the winter months. I was involved myself in the Irish Press strike that ended with the closure of that newspaper group. It very likely would have closed anyway, but it nevertheless taught me that such action is seldom entertained unless there is a strong belief it is the only option left on the table.

Where I do fall out with strikers, though, is when their actions disproportionately affect the general public.

Irish Rail managed to struggle through the recent crisis, but unions targeting the day of the vital World Cup play-off between the Republic of Ireland and Denmark was a direct assault not on the company, but on fans. Luas drivers were on strike on Easter Sunday and Monday during the Rising centenary commemoration last year, meaning countless families missed the chance to celebrate the most important anniversary in the history of the State.

In targeting Christmas, the pilots are no better. Ryanair has had a bad year in public relations terms, cancelling hundreds of flights after mismanagement of the pilots’ holiday roster. Somehow, it struggled through that crisis, and even offered better deals to pilots if they agreed to stay with the airline.

Inane

Maybe the pilots were badly stung by chief executive Michael O’Leary’s frankly inane comment that the planes fly themselves – that may indeed have a certain truth, but personally I prefer the cool head of a human in the cockpit to a computer any day – and decided to show him who really is boss.

If that is a legitimate gripe, and they feel the need to retaliate, then fine, but to do so by effectively targeting the people who sit behind them on the aircraft is mean, and the very antithesis of the Christmas spirit.

So while I hope Monday brings good news for all who plan to travel next Wednesday, and that they too get to enjoy everything I have planned for my extended break in England, there will still be a sour taste in my mouth. No-one will ever introduce legislation banning strike action of any kind over the Christmas period, but it would serve everyone well if they reconsidered. Certainly, I can’t see any downside for the pilots if they were to announce the suspension of their action. The cage has been rattled, and that surely is enough.

If they persist, though, and grans and granddads who hoped to see their children and grandchildren are thwarted; brothers and sisters just like me and mine, planning nothing more than an epic food and tellyfest, disappointed; and friends reuniting at the most special time of year told they now will spend it alone, well, any support or understanding will melt like a light dusting of snow under the first rays of a Christmas sun.