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Ryanair pilots reject cash offer
A group of Ryanair pilots has refused a cash offer to work on their days off.
The BBC says it has seen a letter in which the pilots instead urge the airline to improve their contracts and working conditions.
Separately, the UK pilots association Balpa issued a statement today saying Ryanair should do more to encourage pilots to stay with the airline, following news of its pilot holiday chaos.
Ryanair has been forced to cancel around 50 flights a day until the end of October due to a mess-up over its pilot leave.
In a bid to persuade pilots to work on their days off to ease the situation, it has offered captains a one-off payment of £12,000 and first officers £6,000.
Balpa says Ryanair’s problems have been exacerbated by the high turnover rate of pilots.
According to the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association, Ryanair has lost 700 pilots in the last financial year.
Balpa general secretary Brian Strutton said: "It seems Ryanair has been just about scraping through the summer schedule and having no flexibility in the system, coupled with a miscalculation of pilot annual leave, has led to this disastrous situation.
"We believe these working conditions are leading to pilots leaving the airline after a few years to go work for other airlines.
"The company needs to be a career airline, where pilots feel valued, not over-stretched.
"We would be happy to work with Ryanair on this issue to ensure it is an airline where pilots are proud to work.
"And indeed, we have around 500 unemployed pilot members looking for work who would be more than happy to work for Ryanair, should working conditions be improved in the airline."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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