Ryanair row deepens as European pilots strike

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Europe

Tens of thousands of passengers were hit by transport chaos on Friday as Ryanair pilots across Europe went on a coordinated 24-hour strike to push their demands for better pay and conditions at the peak of the busy summer season.

The Irish no-frills airline was forced to scrap some 400 out of 2,400 European flights scheduled for Friday as pilots in Ireland, Germany, Belgium, Sweden and the Netherlands walked off the job.

Around 55,000 passengers are affected by the strikes, said Ryanair, which has offered customers refunds or the option of rerouting their journey.

Ryanair has slammed the strikes as "unnecessary" but pilots counter that the carrier has refused to engage in meaningful dialogue about collective labor agreements since it began recognizing unions in December 2017.

Passengers wait after their flight got cancelled during a European strike of Ryanair airline crews at Schoenefeld airport, south of Berlin, Germany, August 10, 2018. /VCG Photo

Germany is worst hit by the industrial action, with 250 flights scrapped at 10 airports.

The country's powerful Cockpit union said it had called on Ryanair's roughly 480 Germany-based pilots to walk out from 03:01 a.m. (01:01 GMT) until 02:59 a.m. Saturday.

"There needs to be a rethink at the Dublin company headquarters on how employees are treated," said Ingolf Schumacher, who heads Cockpit's salary policy division.

"Ryanair said there is not one extra cent for personnel costs," he noted, adding that "therefore, no improvement is possible."

Cockpit's President Martin Locher said Ryanair was solely "responsible for the escalation we are now seeing."

In Brussels, around two dozen pilots protested at Charleroi airport, wearing mock badges with slogans like "Ryanair must change" or "Respect us."

In the Netherlands, Ryanair lost a bid to obtain an urgent court order to try to prevent Dutch pilots from joining the industrial action, but the airline said flights to and from the country would not be canceled.

The Dutch flights count among more than 2,000 flights – 85 percent of its schedule – that would operate as usual across Europe on Friday.

Belgium-based Ryanair pilots gather at Charleroi Airport in Gosselies on August 10, 2018. /VCG Photo

Customers were notified as early as possible and a majority of those affected had already been re-booked, the airline added.

The unprecedented simultaneous strike action is the latest headache in a turbulent summer for Europe's second-largest airline.

It already suffered a round of strikes by cockpit and cabin crew last month that disrupted 600 flights in Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain, affecting 100,000 travelers.

Ryanair, which flies in 37 countries and carried 130 million passengers last year, averted widespread Christmas strikes last year by agreeing to recognize trade unions for the first time in its 33-year history.

Since then, however, it has struggled to reach agreements.

The company is eyeing profits of around 1.25 billion euros (1.44 billion US dollars) this year, and boasts lower costs per passenger than its competitors.

The departure gate of the Weeze airport near the German-Dutch border is completely shut down during a wider European strike of Ryanair airline crews at Weeze airport, Germany, on August 10, 2018. /VCG Photo

But Ryanair pilots say they earn less than counterparts at airlines like Lufthansa.

Unions also want the airline to give contractors the same work conditions as staff employees.

Another key complaint of workers based in countries other than Ireland is the fact that Ryanair employs them under Irish legislation, arguing most of its employees work on board Irish planes.

Staff claim this creates huge insecurity for them, blocking their access to state benefits in their country.

At a Frankfurt press conference on Wednesday, Ryanair's chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs said the company's German pilots enjoy "excellent working conditions", earning up to 190,000 euros (220,000 US dollars) annually, which he said was more than their peers at budget rival Eurowings made.

He added that Ryanair had already offered a 20-percent pay increase this year, and that 80 percent of its pilots in Germany were now on permanent contracts.

Ryanair has repeatedly said it remained open to further talks with pilot representatives.

But its combative chief executive Michael O'Leary has also warned the airline may shift jobs and planes to more profitable areas if the turmoil continues.

(Cover Photo: Belgium-based Ryanair pilots gather at Charleroi Airport in Gosselies on August 10, 2018, as they take part in a European wide strike. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): AFP