Ryanair pilots favour new representation

The publicity generated by the Government’s decision on Tuesday not to support Ryanair’s takeover of Aer Lingus meant that a statement from the airline’s pilot group ended up flying below the radar.

The Ryanair Pilot Group announced that 99.3 per cent of pilots who voted in a recent poll said they would like a new system developed for representing their interests with senior management.

This would represent all contract types, ranks and bases.

When asked if they would “commit to support the democratically declared wishes of the majority of pilots as expressed through the RPG balloting process”, 97.7 per cent said yes.

When asked if the “current systems for representing pilots in Ryanair (organised by Ryanair management ...) should be discontinued immediately”, 94.6 per cent voted yes.

The cumbersome questions reflect the nervousness of pilots at the famously anti-union airline. Previous attempts at recognition have all crashlanded.

The pilot group said this was the first survey of Ryanair’s pilots across all of its bases but declined to say how many actually responded.

Ryanair employs about 3,000 pilots.

The pilot group is supported by the European Cockpit Association and is planning more surveys for January and February.

As you might expect, Ryanair’s reply was withering.

“Ryanair would accord this alleged vote all the weight of turkeys voting for Christmas,” the airline said. “On a day when the ECA union in Spain has offered job cuts and pay cuts of up to 51 per cent for its pilots members in Iberia, we would be surprised if the ECA could actually hold a ballot or even count accurately.”