RYANAIR STRIKE CAUSES HOLIDAY CHAOS
Thousands of passengers left in limbo as pilots threaten action
THOUSANDS of families’ holiday plans are in doubt after Ryanair pilots announced plans to strike tomorrow week.
About 100 pilots – many of them captains, without whom aircraft cannot fly – will go on strike for the first time on July 12 in a row with the no-frills airline over new working practices.
The strike is expected to cause chaos for thousands of families booked to go on holidays just as schools finish up, but Ryanair has reacted to the concerns of frustrated
passengers by insisting that only Irish passengers – or those flying to or from here – will be affected if the industrial action goes ahead.
Last night, one family facing disruption demanded that Ryanair let them know as soon as possible whether their holiday will be affected.
Ryanair told customers it would inform them next Tuesday whether their flights will be cancelled, if the strike goes ahead, sparking fury among passengers.
The airline, of which Michael O’Leary is CEO, operates approximately 2,000 daily flights from Ireland, and it is not yet known how many will be affected.
Anthony Goff, his wife Carmel, son Seán, 13, and daughter Niamh, ten, are due to fly to Salou in Spain for a dream holiday they have spent all year planning. Last night they vowed never to book with Ryanair again and demanded immediate clarity.
They fear they will be forced to cancel their trip and will be left out of pocket if they’re forced to wait until the last minute to do so. Mr Goff told the Irish Daily Mail: ‘They (Ryanair) could redeem themselves now if they just work
‘They need to tell us by the weekend’
with us, tell us what’s going on and keep us informed.’
He said waiting until next Tuesday to learn if their flight is cancelled is ‘no notice at all’, adding: ‘If I go and book a flight now and the strike is called off on Tuesday, I won’t get a refund from Ryanair for my Thursday flight, so I’ll have paid for two lots of flights. Really, they need to be telling us by Saturday or Sunday at the latest.’
In a statement, Ryanair insisted that ‘since Ireland accounts for less than 7% of Ryanair flights, we expect that 93% of our customers will be unaffected by any strike’.
Ryanair has more than 300 pilots working for it in Ireland, and more than 4,000 across the company.
About 100 directly employed members of the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association union, Fórsa, at Ryanair are involved in the strike, and 94 out of 95 of those voted in favour of industrial action.
Fórsa has told Ryanair it will notify the airline of further possible strikes ‘in due course’.
The union says the Dublin-based carrier is not taking its demands seriously over pay and conditions, issues over seniority and how annual leave is dealt with.
Pilots want those with the longest service to get first call on entitlements, including annual leave when their children are on holiday, and on promotions and transfers.
In response, Ryanair invited the union to its offices for talks and said Fórsa/IALPA had failed to take up 18 previous invitations to do so. Asked about this, Fórsa claimed the airline had refused to meet at a neutral venue.
In a statement, Ryanair said it is ‘disappointed’ by the strike notice, describing it as ‘unnecessary’. ‘Ryanair will communicate next Tuesday by email and SMS text with all customers travelling from Ireland next Thursday if this unnecessary strike goes ahead,’ the airline’s spokesman said.
The budget airline averted widespread strikes before last Christmas by deciding to recognise trade unions for its first time, but has since struggled to reach agreement on terms in some countries.
And families should brace themselves for a summer of disruption as Ryanair cabin crew are also threatening industrial action. Ryanair pilots in Germany are also balloting for strike, with a result due by the end of this month.
Yesterday’s notice of industrial action came hours after Ryanair revealed that air-traffic control strikes left more than 210,000 passengers facing flight cancellations last month, compared with just 41 in June 2017. Shares in the airline are down 21% from an all-time high last August following the rostering fiasco. Ryanair stock closed the day flat yesterday at €15.50.