Ryanair has cancelled 250 flights, affecting around 40,000 passengers, ahead of a coordinated one-day strike today, Friday 28 September, by pilots and cabin crew in Spain, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and Germany.
Affected passengers should have received a text and email from the airline informing them of their flight cancellation and giving alternative options.
Various unions have called for their members to stage a 24-hour walkout from 12am (GMT) on Friday. Although pay is a factor, the majority of unions seem to be lobbying most strongly for a transition from workers being employed on Irish contracts and subject to Irish legislation to their own countries’ labour laws.
Ryanair has accused rival airlines of stirring up the unions responsible for Friday's industrial action.
In a statement, the beleaguered low-cost airline said: "In Spain, a Norwegian cabin crew member in Alicante is driving the strike, in Portugal a TAP cabin crew is calling for strikes without the support of our Portuguese cabin crew, and in Italy where Ryanair yesterday signed a CLA agreement with the three main cabin crew unions, this threatened strike has been called by a tiny union which has no recognition or support among our Italian cabin crew."
The unions currently calling for their members to strike are: Italy’s Uiltrasporti and FILT-CGIL, Portugal’s SNPVAC, Belgium’s CNE/LBC, Spain’s SITCPLA and USO, and VNV and FVN in the Netherlands.
In a statement, the beleaguered low-cost airline said: "In Spain, a Norwegian cabin crew member in Alicante is driving the strike, in Portugal a TAP cabin crew is calling for strikes without the support of our Portuguese cabin crew, and in Italy where Ryanair yesterday signed a CLA agreement with the three main cabin crew unions, this threatened strike has been called by a tiny union which has no recognition or support among our Italian cabin crew."
The unions currently calling for their members to strike are: Italy’s Uiltrasporti and FILT-CGIL, Portugal’s SNPVAC, Belgium’s CNE/LBC, Spain’s SITCPLA and USO, and VNV and FVN in the Netherlands.
Ryanair has published its offer to pilots and cabin crew in a bid to "set the record straight, correct competitor trade union propaganda and pave the way to a speedy conclusion of collective labour agreements (CLAs) with its people and their unions".
Europe's biggest airline says it has also submitted a competition complaint to the European Commission calling for an investigation of the "anti-competitive behaviour of certain competitor airline crew, unions and lobby groups, who are actively impeding Ryanair’s negotiations with its pilots/cabin crew".
It is accusing other airline employees of stirring up the repeated strikes "in an effort to damage Ryanair’s business and customer confidence".
Europe's biggest airline says it has also submitted a competition complaint to the European Commission calling for an investigation of the "anti-competitive behaviour of certain competitor airline crew, unions and lobby groups, who are actively impeding Ryanair’s negotiations with its pilots/cabin crew".
It is accusing other airline employees of stirring up the repeated strikes "in an effort to damage Ryanair’s business and customer confidence".
Speaking in Brussels today, Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said: "We have made real progress with the unions and our people in many EU countries since we agreed to recognise unions in Dec 2017. However, in certain countries, most notably in Portugal, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, and Sweden similar progress is being impeded by the interference of competitor airline pilots and cabin crew who are conspiring to call repeated and unnecessary strikes, which are disrupting Ryanair’s customers, and damaging our business for the benefit of their legacy airline employers.
"We are not aware of any other multi-national company in Europe where its union negotiations are interfered with by competitor employees. Volkswagen’s union negotiations do not take place with Peugeot car workers. Tesco is not required to meet with ASDA employees. Yet in Ryanair currently, we are being asked to negotiate with pilots and/or cabin crew of Aer Lingus, Norwegian, TAP, Eurowings, KLM and Braathens. This is anti-competitive behaviour which damages consumers."
"We are not aware of any other multi-national company in Europe where its union negotiations are interfered with by competitor employees. Volkswagen’s union negotiations do not take place with Peugeot car workers. Tesco is not required to meet with ASDA employees. Yet in Ryanair currently, we are being asked to negotiate with pilots and/or cabin crew of Aer Lingus, Norwegian, TAP, Eurowings, KLM and Braathens. This is anti-competitive behaviour which damages consumers."
Ryanair is being encouraged to pay out compensation to customers whose flights are cancelled by the strike.
The Civil Aviation Authority has urged Ryanair passengers grounded by strikes to claim €250 or €400 in compensation under European air passengers’ rights rules, while Rory Boland, Which? travel editor, said:
“These cancellations mean more travel chaos, more unnecessary disruption and more holiday plans in tatters for 30,000 Ryanair passengers - when will this airline finally do right by its customers?
“The airline must now immediately arrange alternative flights or provide a full refund and pay out compensation to those affected - including the many people still waiting for the money they’re owed from its shambolic summer of cancellations”
Ryanair said it would reject any compensation claims for strikes because they were caused by “extraordinary circumstances”.
The Civil Aviation Authority has urged Ryanair passengers grounded by strikes to claim €250 or €400 in compensation under European air passengers’ rights rules, while Rory Boland, Which? travel editor, said:
“These cancellations mean more travel chaos, more unnecessary disruption and more holiday plans in tatters for 30,000 Ryanair passengers - when will this airline finally do right by its customers?
“The airline must now immediately arrange alternative flights or provide a full refund and pay out compensation to those affected - including the many people still waiting for the money they’re owed from its shambolic summer of cancellations”
Ryanair said it would reject any compensation claims for strikes because they were caused by “extraordinary circumstances”.
We sincerely apologise to those customers affected by these unnecessary strikes on Friday, which we have done our utmost to avoid, given that we have already offered these unions recognition agreements, Collective Labour Agreements, and a move to local contracts/law in 2019.
These repeated unnecessary strikes are damaging Ryanair’s business and our customer confidence at a time when oil prices are rising strongly, and if they continue, it is inevitable that we will have to look again at our capacity growth this winter and in summer 2019. We hope these unions will see common sense and work with us to finalise agreements for the benefit of our pilots and cabin crew over the coming weeks without further disrupting our customers or our flights.
When we can successfully do deals with unions in Ireland, the UK, Germany and Italy, why are some unions in Belgium, Holland and Spain not doing similar deals?”
Ryanair’s Kenny Jacobs.
One Collective Labour Agreement (CLA) has already been reached between Ryanair and three Italian unions (none of which are involved in Friday's strike action).
Covering all Ryanair’s Italian-based cabin crew from 1 October 2018, the proposed CLA will run for three years and addresses many of the concerns raised generally by international staff.
The CLA will be governed by Italian law and the Italian Courts; allow Italian cabin crew to transition to local contracts over an agreed period with immediate access to Italian benefits such as maternity and paternity leave; deliver increased pay under a new pay structure, which will see crews benefit from increased tax free allowances (similar to other Italian airlines); and introduce an Italian Pension Scheme as part of the overall package.
"This follows recent cabin crew agreements in Ireland with FORSA and in the UK with UNITE," said Ryanair’s chief people officer, Eddie Wilson.
"We have again invited our German, Portuguese and Spanish unions to meet with us so that we can negotiate and hopefully agree similar CLAs in these other larger markets."
The CLA will be governed by Italian law and the Italian Courts; allow Italian cabin crew to transition to local contracts over an agreed period with immediate access to Italian benefits such as maternity and paternity leave; deliver increased pay under a new pay structure, which will see crews benefit from increased tax free allowances (similar to other Italian airlines); and introduce an Italian Pension Scheme as part of the overall package.
"This follows recent cabin crew agreements in Ireland with FORSA and in the UK with UNITE," said Ryanair’s chief people officer, Eddie Wilson.
"We have again invited our German, Portuguese and Spanish unions to meet with us so that we can negotiate and hopefully agree similar CLAs in these other larger markets."
Although Ryanair has told customers that it will only be in touch if their flight is cancelled, mass confusion ensued on 26 September as around 7,000 passengers were emailed by the airline. Their flights, they were told, were not cancelled - yet - but they were given the option to re-book in case of "disruption".
If they opted not to change, Ryanair said that it “intends to operate as normal on Friday September 28.”
It adds: “Should this change Ryanair will notify you of any cancellation or delay via email and SMS.”
If they opted not to change, Ryanair said that it “intends to operate as normal on Friday September 28.”
It adds: “Should this change Ryanair will notify you of any cancellation or delay via email and SMS.”
German Ryanair pilots will join the strike tomorrow, union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) announced late on Wednesday.
The union called on all pilots permanently based in Germany to walk out from 03.01 on Friday until 02.59 on Saturday.
"No improved offer has been made to VC since the last industrial action on 12 September 2018," the pilots' union said in a statement. "In addition, no conciliation agreement has been reached between Ryanair and VC so far."
German pilots and cabin crew for Ryanair previously walked out on 12 September, which led to 150 out of 400 flights to and from German destinations being cancelled.
Ryanair has released a statement calling the strike by the German pilots' union, Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), "unnecessary".
The budget airline also released a copy of a letter sent to the head of the union yesterday (26 September), following hours of negotiations in Frankfurt where it says it agreed to arbitration.
Peter Bellew, Ryanair's chief operations officer, said in a statement: “It is deeply disappointing that some of our customers and our people in Germany tomorrow will have their flights disrupted by an unnecessary strike called at short notice by the Lufthansa controlled VC Union."
The airline added it had written to all of its pilots based in Germany to ask them to work as normal tomorrow.
In light of the German pilot strike tomorrow, Ryanair has pre-cancelled more flights.
The union Verdi has called on Ryanair cabin crew in Germany to join tomorrow's strike, following fruitless negotiations.
They were previously part of the walk-out on 12 September.
An estimated 2,000 Ryanair employees, mainly cabin crew working in Spain, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal and Italy, as well as Dutch pilots, are striking today.
In total, around 250 flights have been grounded, affecting 40,000 passengers.
Ryanair had cancelled 150 flights earlier in the week and on Thursday the airline confirmed pilots in Germany would also be going on strike, with up to 100 flights affected.
In total, around 250 flights have been grounded, affecting 40,000 passengers.
Ryanair had cancelled 150 flights earlier in the week and on Thursday the airline confirmed pilots in Germany would also be going on strike, with up to 100 flights affected.
Stansted, the airline’s biggest base in Europe, is the worst-affected airport by today's strike. Twenty flights, mainly to and from Germany, have been cancelled.
At Manchester, links to and from Barcelona, Berlin, Faro and Malaga have been grounded.
Other cancellations include Birmingham to Lanzarote and East Midlands to Malaga.
At Manchester, links to and from Barcelona, Berlin, Faro and Malaga have been grounded.
Other cancellations include Birmingham to Lanzarote and East Midlands to Malaga.
Despite the regrettable and unjustified strike action taking place in six of our 37 markets today, all 400 first wave aircraft departed on schedule this morning.
Today, over 2,150 Ryanair flights (90 per cent of our schedule) will operate as normal carrying 400,000 customers across Europe. Ryanair took every step to minimise the disruption and we notified our customers as early as possible advising them of their free move, refund or reroute options.
We want to again apologise to customers affected by this unnecessary disruption.
Ryanair
EasyJet admitted today that it has benefited from Ryanair's numerous flight cancellations this summer and autumn.
The rival low-cost airline revealed in a trading update that it's expecting full-year 2018 headline profits before tax of between £570-£580 million.
Johan Lundgren, easyJet chief executive, said: “We have benefited from a number of one-off events in 2018, including the bankruptcies of Monarch and Air Berlin, as well as Ryanair cancellations.”
The rival low-cost airline revealed in a trading update that it's expecting full-year 2018 headline profits before tax of between £570-£580 million.
Johan Lundgren, easyJet chief executive, said: “We have benefited from a number of one-off events in 2018, including the bankruptcies of Monarch and Air Berlin, as well as Ryanair cancellations.”
Although Ryanair has tried to downplay the disruption caused by today's strike, many passengers have been left unimpressed by the airline's handling of the situation.
Aidan Doherty tweeted: "Ryanair your airline [is] an absolute joke. Three hours' notice of stike [sic] flight cancellation freephone customer service number that cuts you off trying to call about it". He added: "I'll never fly with Ryanair if I can help it again."
Aidan Doherty tweeted: "Ryanair your airline [is] an absolute joke. Three hours' notice of stike [sic] flight cancellation freephone customer service number that cuts you off trying to call about it". He added: "I'll never fly with Ryanair if I can help it again."
The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is encouraging passengers affected by today's flight cancellations to claim compensation.
A spokesperson said: “Passengers have the right to seek compensation under EU legislation when flights are delayed by three hours or more, cancelled or when they are denied boarding.
“We note that the recent industrial action is not by Ryanair’s UK employees, but it is the view of the UK Civil Aviation Authority, taking account of previous court rulings, that when a flight cancellation is caused by strike action by the airline’s employees, the airline is required to pay compensation to passengers in respect of the cancellation of the flight, if it has not warned passengers of the cancellation at least two weeks prior to the scheduled time of departure.
“In the case of the most recent industrial action involving Ryanair, passengers must first submit their claim to the airline and if they are not satisfied with the response, they can seek redress via the approved Alternative Dispute Resolution service”.
A spokesperson said: “Passengers have the right to seek compensation under EU legislation when flights are delayed by three hours or more, cancelled or when they are denied boarding.
“We note that the recent industrial action is not by Ryanair’s UK employees, but it is the view of the UK Civil Aviation Authority, taking account of previous court rulings, that when a flight cancellation is caused by strike action by the airline’s employees, the airline is required to pay compensation to passengers in respect of the cancellation of the flight, if it has not warned passengers of the cancellation at least two weeks prior to the scheduled time of departure.
“In the case of the most recent industrial action involving Ryanair, passengers must first submit their claim to the airline and if they are not satisfied with the response, they can seek redress via the approved Alternative Dispute Resolution service”.
Cabin crew at Frankfurt airport this morning have been spotted holding signs reading: “No rights, no flights”.
Ryanair Cabin Crew strike this morning at Frankfurt ✊#cabincrewunited, #ryanairmustchangepic.twitter.com/3ijAc7l8kl
— ver.di Cabin Crew United Germany (@CabinUnited) September 28, 2018
Ryanair has said that, despite the strike, "punctuality today is going well. We have had a very small number of delays due to weather and ATC issues. We are on track to carry over 400,000 customers today."
