Flights chaos ‘due to pilots’ holidays’

Travellers demand clarity from airline

Ryanair last night blamed an error in the planning of pilot holidays for its decision to cancel 50 flights a day for the next six weeks. Travellers demanded the airline provide clarity over cancelled flights.

BUDGET AIRLINE Ryanair last night blamed an error in the planning of pilot holidays for its decision to cancel 50 flights a day for the next six weeks.

Furious travellers demanded that the airline provide immediate clarity over cancelled flights and customers complained that last-minute cancellations had left them out of pocket.

Around 30,000 Ryanair passengers had their weekend travel plans ruined by short-notice flight cancellations, with 170 flights grounded on Saturday and Sunday and many travellers were told they would need to wait days for another flight.

Kenny Jacobs, chief marketing officer, said the company was “working hard to fix” the problem, after it announced a two per cent reduction in scheduled flights until the end of October.

He said: “We have messed up in the planning of pilot holidays and we’re working hard to fix that.”

Some customers said lastminute cancellations had left them out-of-pocket due to nonrefundable accommodation costs, or with no choice but to book expensive alternative flights or transport. Others said they had been left stranded in their holiday destination and many urged Ryanair to publish a list of all flight cancellations.

Writing on the airline’s Facebook page, Maria Joanna Suquitana said guests travelling to Italy for her brother’s wedding had their flights cancelled just hours before they were due to depart.

She wrote: “We were forced to rent a van from Germany and drive 16 hours because we just can’t trust to fly with you again. Most stressful days of our lives.”

Karen Naughton Brill said her daughter’s 21st birthday present of flights to Amsterdam had been “ruined” when they were cancelled with less than 12 hours’ notice. Facebook user Harriet Kathryn Ross wrote: “What they need to do is confirm and publish a schedule of which flights will be cancelled over the next six weeks. So customers have enough time to make alternative plans.”

Ryanair said air traffic control delays and strikes, bad weather and a backlog of annual leave to be taken by pilots and cabin crew had led to punctuality falling to below 80 per cent over the last two weeks.

A spokesman said this figure was “unacceptable” and the company apologised to customers, who it said would be offered alternative flights or refunds.

Ryanair operated a full weekend schedule at Leeds Bradford, but cancelled one flight to Bratislava on Friday. An airport spokesman advised travellers to contact the airline directly and keep updated with flight information.

We have messed up in the planning of pilot holidays Kenny Jacobs, cheif marketing officer for Ryanair