Ryanair bosses ‘don’t treat crew like humans’
After Mail exposé revealed how budget airline ruthlessly exploits its workers, staff tell of their appalling treatment
RYANAIR cabin crew last night told of their appalling treatment by bosses.
Dozens of stewards contacted the Daily Mail after we revealed how they are ruthlessly exploited by the budget airline.
They described gruelling working conditions and extraordinary tactics used to pressurise passengers into buying as much as possible during flights.
One said that on one day he worked for eight hours but was paid for only two. Another said she earned less than £500 in a month. Others were repeatedly put on standby at the airport, in eight-hour shifts for which they are paid £30, or £3.75 per hour – less than half the minimum wage.
Theresa May yesterday said there were ‘no excuses’ for underpaying staff, and employees should report bosses if they
Yesterday’s Daily Mail believe they have been paid below the minimum wage.
Last night, many Ryanair stewards claimed bosses ‘don’t treat us like humans’. They revealed staff are told to keep passengers awake with lights and loud announcements to maximise sales.
Some said they were threatened with relocation away from their families if they did not sell enough.
One stewardess was told she would be moved to her home country to be with her daughter only if she sold more Pringles crisps. Others said they were made to put ‘sales before safety’, with staff pitted against each for the most commission.
An exhausted crew member said it was possible to work an eight-hour shift on board an aircraft but be paid for only two hours.
Another worker, who was based in Dublin until earlier this year and is now working for another airline, said: ‘It was like a small North Korea. It is modern- day slavery and they should be ashamed of themselves.’
Yesterday, the Mail revealed thousands of Ryanair’s agency cabin crew earn money only when in the air and on commission for in-flight sales. This means all time spent cleaning planes and boarding passengers is unpaid.
An undercover Mail reporter was taken on as a trainee by Crewlink, one of two firms that hire some of the airline’s 8,000 stewards.
She was told she would earn a ‘premium’ hourly rate of £14.43 – but this rate applies only to ‘flight time’, from when a plane leaves the blocks until it is parked at its destination.
Recruits were told the unpaid work would consist of at least 45 minutes before the day’s first flight, time between flights, and half an hour after the final service.
Agency cabin crew members must also pay fees, including at least £2,150 for training, £25 a month for uniform in the first year and £179 if resigning in the first 15 months. These deductions meant one worker was paid just £470 for a month’s work.
Agency recruits earn on average £11,500 a year while chief executive Michael O’Leary had a pay package last year of £2.8million. The firm, Europe’s largest airline, made post-tax profits of £1.14billion in the six months to September.
Labour MP Luciana Berger – who first raised Ryanair’s conduct in Parliament in 2013 – said: ‘We need a full and fearless investigation into Ryanair’s malpractices, and Michael O’Leary should come to Parliament to face the music.’ She added: ‘Ryanair stands charged with disgraceful abuse of its cabin crew … Senior managers should hang their heads in shame.’
Graham Stringer, of the Commons transport committee, condemned the ‘shocking’ actions of the company, which is worth £17.5billion.
He said: ‘There needs to be an inquiry into this. Ryanair’s human resources policies are more reminiscent of medieval times … If I was a shareholder I would be demanding Mr O’Leary’s head.’
The work and pensions committee and business committee have said they will investigate.
Ryanair said the £3.75-per-hour airport standby shifts were lawful as total pay amounts to more than minimum wage, when flight time and sales commission is included.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: ‘There are no excuses for not paying the national minimum wage … regardless of what the employer calls the arrangement … HMRC responds to 100 per cent of minimum wage complaints, and also carries out a number of targeted investigations where it identifies a risk of abuse.’
Lawyers who analysed the Mail’s findings said Ryanair could be in breach of minimum wage guidelines. It is an offence for employers to fail to have full shift records that prove they pay minimum wage. Stewards say they are not given such records. Ryanair said it does record their full working shifts but declined to provide a sample.
Last week Ryanair recognised pilots’ unions for the first time. But it still refuses to do so for cabin crew unions. A clause in stewards’ contracts threatens them with the sack if they strike.
Unite’s Oliver Richardson said: ‘This change must extend to all workers … These work conditions are unacceptable.’
Ryanair denied any wrongdoing. It said its average pay for crew, including agency workers and staff but not supervisors, is £21,140.
It said recruits who stay for a year get an ‘annual uniform allowance’ of £396.
A spokesman also said that staff were given training to help improve their sales, but ‘if they consistently and repeatedly underperform, their contracts will be terminated’.
Crewlink declined to comment.
Revealed: Ryanair cabin crew who work unpaid for up to 5 hours a day