The Quiet Man? O’Leary keeping a low profile in midst of air chaos
Holidaymakers face strike misery and having their trips abroad ruined, writes Anne-Marie Walsh
MICHAEL O’Leary has been remarkably quiet since Ryanair hit the most severe industrial turbulence in its history this week.
A request for an interview with him or his Chief People Officer Eddie Wilson by this newspaper yesterday was turned down.
Keeping the provocative master of soundbites silent may be the best decision the company has made since it ventured into a brave new world of industrial relations.
Its foray into dealing with unions on behalf of its staff follows its historic decision to recognise them six months ago.
A conciliatory approach by the billionaire chief executive who once described pilots as “glorified taxi drivers” might backfire if he said the wrong thing.
But the airline’s tactics still have all the hallmarks of the hardball O’Leary approach.
It came back fighting over the past few days as pilots and cabin crew unveiled a litany of demands. The strategy seems to be to completely deny their claims and the airline has been busy painting a picture of what seem like great terms and conditions.
Cabin crew say they are paid €20,000 a year. Ryanair says it’s up to €40,000, although you might wonder how many are on that rate.
Captains earn between €180,000 and €200,000, according to Ryanair, get a €6,000 a year expense allowance and have agreed to 20pc pay rises.
But the union claims rates are up to 40pc lower than rivals, and this is evident in a huge turnover of pilots.
Ryanair also insisted the Irish Airline Pilots Associations doesn’t have a mandate to disrupt the flights and summer holidays of thousands of customers during a 24-hour pilot strike next Thursday.
In a stinging attack on the union, it said less than a third of the airline’s 350 pilots were backing the stoppage.
It has a point, although Fórsa does have a mandate from the directlyemployed pilots it did ballot. And 99pc of them backed strike action.
At this stage, it’s unclear what the other pilots – the contracted ones – who are rostered to work on the day are going to do.
But it won’t matter a curse to passengers who has a mandate or not if the end result means they can’t catch their flight on the day.
Ryanair is due to officially tell customers what their options are by text or email next Tuesday. But some people have already rebooked with other airlines and are seeking refunds.
After being asked about their contingency plans for days, finally last night company sources said passengers would be offered refunds or accommodated on the next available flight if the strike goes ahead.
But they admitted that nobody really knows what’s going to happen as the stoppage draws closer.
This is no ordinary industrial dispute.
Not only does Ryanair have decades of animosity with its staff to overcome, it’s also winging it on the industrial relations front because it just doesn’t have the experience.
At this late point in the day, talks between the airline and Ialpa need to get off the ground and they can’t even agree a venue.
Ryanair is insisting they are held at its Airside headquarters because it doesn’t want a media circus outside a hotel. And it says it has put forward an offer in response to the key demand.
They want a ‘seniority list’ to be drawn up. This would allow pilots with longer service to get first call on promotions, holidays during school breaks and transfers to bases.
But Ialpa sources said this offer did not give any of 11 demands it had made on the issue, including making the list available to all directly employed members before the end of January each year.
In the meantime, the nuances of either side’s arguments do not seem to be winning the public’s hearts.
“Am I reading right @ Ryanair and @forsa_union_ ie, ye are both banging yer chests about where to meet?” said one passenger on Twitter yesterday. “How many thousands of family holidays are going to be ruined because of this?
“Please someone stand up and be the bigger group.”
No doubt, some unions are trying it on by drawing up wishlists that would realistically put any airline out of business, and will have to prioritise and compromise.
Since its December decision, Ryanair hasn’t even been able to broker recognition deals with many unions, but they don’t cost money. What it faces now in the form of claims will and if it doesn’t develop a more imaginative strategy beyond denying there are any downsides to its staff’s terms and conditions, things can only get worse.
“Thursday’s strike will go ahead,” said one senior union source. “They’d have to move an awful lot from where they are. The endgame is to bring terms and conditions up to a par with rivals or at least do something to change motivation and the high turnover of staff.”