German pilots join Ryanair summer strike
Thousands of customers face disappointment as one sixth of flights will be grounded by walkout
Ryanair has been plunged into a fresh crisis after German pilots joined colleagues across Europe in strikes over pay and conditions timed to cause maximum disruption to summer holidays. Around one-fifth of Ryanair’s flights, nearly 400 in total, are due to be grounded tomorrow.
RYANAIR has been plunged into a fresh crisis after German pilots joined colleagues across Europe in a wave of co-ordinated strike action timed to cause maximum disruption to summer getaways.
Around one sixth of Ryanair’s flights, nearly 400 in total, are due to be grounded tomorrow, disappointing tens of thousands of customers at the height of the holidays.
German pilots announced a 24-hour walkout yesterday. They joined industrial action previously planned by Ryanair pilots in Ireland, Sweden and Belgium. VNV, the Dutch pilot union, is also considering a walkout.
Vereinigung Cockpit, the German pilots’ union, said it hoped the strikes would force Ryanair “to compromise with us and enter serious negotiations” over pay and conditions.
Ryanair pilots claim that their salaries are made up of an unusually high variable component based on how much they fly.
They argue their incomes can drop dramatically as a result of issues that are outside of their control, for instance through prolonged bouts of illness. Pilots are also frustrated with being moved across Ryanair’s network of 223 airports in 37 countries at short notice. Vereinigung Cockpit negotiator Ingolf Schumacher said: “Pilots are not nomads who put up tents wherever Ryanair wants to operate.”
Ryanair chief operating officer Peter Bellew rejected the German pilots’ main demands but left the door open.
He said: “We are not going to change the Ryanair business model … but we still can change many things that we do.”
Ryanair said German pilots received a 20pc pay rise at the turn of the year and can take home up to £171,000.
City analysts said the outcome of the dispute and its impact on tight staff cost control will be crucial for Ryanair as it battles to maintain profits that are the highest of any budget carrier in Europe. The airline is also faced with cabin crew grievances and has been forced to cancel thousands of flights this summer due to French air traffic control strikes.
Liberum analyst Gerald Khoo said: “Ultimately Ryanair have to win this battle. They can’t get into a situation allowing any individual union to shift working practices back to the position of legacy carriers. If you give in to one then the others will have a go.”
Robin Byde, an analyst with Canaccord Genuity, said the concerted action will mark an escalation in tensions between Ryanair and its staff.
“You’ve seen this with Air France … what prolonged periods of strike action do is that they undermine consumer confidence within booking with that airline. It has a knock-on effect.
“Once that thinking gets ingrained, then you are in trouble.”