Ryanair bungs pilots9 £12k to keep flying

PAY PLEA ON STAFF HOLIDAYS

RYANAIR is trying to reduce cancelled flights by offering its pilots £12,000 to ditch their holidays.

The airline has scrapped 2,024 flights after “messing up” staff leave, hitting 400,000 passengers.

In a leaked email, chief operations officer Michael Hickey said: “All current pilots who remain operating Ryanair aircraft between Sept and 31st October 2018 will receive a once-off 12,000/£12,000 gross bonus for captains and 6,000/£6,000 for first officers in Nov 2018.”

But hundreds of the airline’s pilots are reportedly planning to go on strike following its bungle.

Rival

Others are said to be defecting to rival carriers, including Norwegian Airlines which has allegedly poached 140 pilots from the Irish company this year.

Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary, is reportedly “scouring Brazil” for new pilots to plug staff shortages.

News of the pilots’ holiday payment came after O’Leary insisted only 2% of flights were affected.

The outspoken chief executive said: “It is clearly a mess but in context of an operation where we operate more than 2,500 flights a day, this is reasonably small.

“That doesn’t take away in any way the inconvenience of it to those people whose flights have been cancelled.”

Mr O’Leary also said “everyone will receive full compensation”.

But more than 32,000 furious customers took to Facebook. Alistair Oliver wrote: “Your shower of b ****** s have completely f **** d up my only break this year. I will never use you again.”