Further strikes expected by Irish-based Ryanair pilots

Ryanair faces further strikes by Irish-based pilots following stoppages on Friday and those planned for next Tuesday.

Members of the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (Ialpa) – part of trade union Fórsa – picketed Ryanair’s headquarters in Swords, Co Dublin, on Friday during their second one-day strike.

They plan a third stoppage on Tuesday next July 24th. Angela Kirk, Fórsa's national secretary, says in a letter to Eddie Wilson, Ryanair's chief people officer, that the union will notify the airline of further strikes in due course.

She states that the notice of the one-day pilots’ strike due to begin at 1am next Tuesday still stands.

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Ryanair already confirmed it will cancel 16 of 290 flights on Tuesday, but says it is offering the 2,500 passengers affected alternative flights or refunds. The airline limited cancellations to Republic-UK services.

Correspondence shows that a gulf remains between the two sides on the issues in dispute, including base transfers, promotion, annual leave and other conditions tied to seniority.

Ms Kirk says that if Ryanair wants Ialpa-Fórsa to change its strike notice, then the airline must respond positively to “11 minimum requirements” originally set out in a letter to Michael O’Leary, the company’s chief executive, in May.

Ryanair maintains that these requirements are unworkable for an airline with more than 87 bases in 37 different countries.

Base transfers

An earlier letter from Mr Wilson to Ms Kirk argues that the pilots involved in industrial action are not affected by base transfers.

Both sides maintained they were willing to meet. The pair have agreed to establish a working group to tackle the issues in dispute but differ on its terms of reference.

Ms Kirk’s letter states that, subject to their rostered pilot duties, “Ialpa-Fórsa representatives remain available” to meet to resolve the dispute.

Kenny Jacobs, Ryanair's chief marketing officer, said on Friday that the airline wanted to meet the pilots so the sides could get down to working on a resolution. However, the two have not set a date for further talks.

Meanwhile, US pilot, Capt Denis Tajer of American Airlines, a senior figure in the Allied Pilots' Association, a powerful US aviation union, voiced his support for Ialpa's action.

Capt Tajer, who was in Dublin, argued that the seniority agreement sought by the Irish union was common in the world’s “biggest and most complex” airlines, including his own employer, which has 15,000 pilots.

“It gives everyone a transparent way of seeing where they stand on seniority lists,” he explained.

He said that this applied to promotions, the reasons behind pilot transfers between bases, and other issues.

“Knowing how all that’s going to happen is critical for pilots when it comes to making a career choice,” he said.

Legacy practices

Capt Tajer maintained that it worked for the airlines as it allowed them to manage complex problems while continuing to attract pilots to work for them.

Mr Jacobs argued that the system proposed was based on practices in legacy “Aer Lingus-type” airlines based mainly in one country, and was unsuitable for an airline operating from multiple jurisdictions.

He pointed out that a pan-European seniority list would not work, and said Ryanair believed it would ultimately damage pilots’ interests.

“We want to have rapid promotion of pilots – it would only slow that down if we had a pan-European seniority list,” he said. “If we give them that, it’s going to be bad for Irish pilots.”

Ryanair on Friday recognised Italian union, FIT CISL’s right to represent cabin crew along with Anpac and Anpav, with which it already has agreements.

Mr Jacobs noted that the agreement, which followed a similar deal this week with German union Ver.di, showed that Ryanair was making good progress with labour organisations in many of its markets.