Travel chaos for passengers as Ryanair loses 140 pilots to rival
RYANAIR has lost 140 pilots to rival Norwegian Air alone since the start of year, the Irish
Independent has learned. It is understood that the Irish airline has begun offering a “signing-on” bonus of €10,000 in a bid to get experienced pilots to join Ryanair as it struggles to fill jobs.
The airline, run by outspoken chief executive Michael O’Leary, has blamed changes to the system for rostering pilot holidays, bad weather and air traffic control strikes for its unprecedented decision to cancel dozens of flights a day for six weeks at short notice, leaving passengers in the lurch.
But the Irish Independent understands that retention and recruitment issues – such as the loss of staff to rivals, including Norwegian, is also hitting the airline.
Norwegian uses the same 737 aircraft as Ryanair, making it relatively easy for crew to take up new jobs. It operates across Europe and has launched a lowcost transatlantic service from Ireland to the US.
In recent days, Norwegian announced plans to hire 40 more pilots to work out of its planned new base at Dublin Airport – deepening the challenge for Ryanair in its own backyard.
Ryanair shares are expected to be hit this morning, as investors assess the financial cost of its scheduling crisis. Today alone, a dozen Ryanair flights in or out of Dublin Airport have been cancelled. The situation is repeated across Europe and thousands of passengers have already been affected.
The cancellation crisis could ultimately affect between 308,000 and 385,000 passengers over the period.
That will hit Ryanair in the pocket. Irish passengers are entitled to compensation of €250 to €400 each, as well as a refund for flights cancelled with less than two weeks’ notice.
The fiasco is also likely to affect future bookings. However, Ryanair has said the situation won’t have an impact on earnings in September and October.
Ryanair has insisted that most services are operating to schedule, with “less than 2pc” of flights expected to be hit over the six weeks of rolling cancellations.
“We have messed up in the planning of pilot holidays and we’re working hard to fix that,” Kenny Jacobs, Ryanair’s chief marketing officer, said in a statement at the weekend.
Yesterday, as the airline confirmed more flight cancellations, he again apologised to affected customers.
The average of 50 flights a day being cancelled by Ryanair is a fraction of the 2,000 daily flights operated by the airline.
A Norwegian spokesperson said: “We can confirm that 140 pilots have joined us from Ryanair this year.
“Pilot recruitment is also under way for more pilots for our new Dublin base opening later this year.”
Ryanair has more than 13,000 staff in total, including thousands of pilots, but the airline’s dramatic growth in recent years means its crews are in huge demand. Every new Aeroplane bought by the airline requires an extra 10 flight crew – five captains and five more junior pilots – because of mandatory rest periods, holidays and ongoing training.
Yesterday, Ryanair provided an update of expected cancellations over the next three days. The airline said it is contacting passengers booked on those flights via email and advised customers to check their email.