Unions praise “shocking” revelations of staff exhaustion

Thursday, 15 Feb, 2006 0

The International Transport Workers’ Federation has praised the makers of the Dispatches documentary for “lifting the lid” on the treatment of Ryanair staff.

The ITF said it raised the alarm about worker fatigue in 2004 with the launch of a website providing staff with a forum to discuss their concerns without fear of reprisals.

It described the subsequent comments as a “catalogue of misery, low pay and oppression.”

Secretary of the ITF’s Civil Aviation Section, Ingo Marowsky, speaking about footage of exhausted crews on Monday night’s Channel 4 documentary, said they were “shocking to the viewer, but not to anyone who has worked for Ryanair.”

“Dispatches has helped lift the lid on the fact that Ryanair’s frontline staff are being worked to the point of exhaustion,” she said.

“The programme showed exhausted and overworked crews, dirty planes and security lapses, proving what we, trade union and whistleblowers within the business have been saying for years.

“The makers deserve to be congratulated.”

The programme claimed cabin crew worked for ten hours a day on five to six consecutive days with some staff falling asleep on the job.

A letter to Ryanair from the Dispatches producers, Steve Boulton Productions, said: “Cabin crew fatigue is a serious problem which potentially jeopardises the aircraft, passengers and crew safety.”

Undercover reporters also claimed the 100 hour maximum flying time for pilots was “more a target than a limit” with those complaining about tiredness either fired or demoted.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary insisted the observations of the undercover reporters were “subjective and not based on fact or evidence.”

He said staff had five days off in every 15-day cycle – “considerably better than the average worker.”

O’Leary also rubbished claims that staff face demotion for complaining about tiredness and stressed pilots never exceed 100 hours flying time a month.

Report by Steve Jones