Ryanair has warned it may have to let go of some pilots over ongoing delays to the arrival of its new Boeing 737 Max aircrafts.
The Irish carrier said it could be forced to close bases and cut jobs after the date for delivery was pushed back to later this autumn.
Ryanair said Boeing would not deliver the first aircraft until September or October at the earliest, as the airline does not take deliveries during its peak summer months of June, July and August, in a memo dated 27 January.
Two months ago Ryanair said it hoped to get the first 10 of the 135 new 737 Max planes it had ordered in March off the ground.
The memo said the airline’s commercial team would be drawing up plans for job cuts over the coming week, with staff to be informed in the first or second week of February.
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The new Boeing 737 Max jets carry more passengers and use less fuel than its existing planes, but two deadly crashes - one in Ethiopia and another in Indonesia - recently killed 346 people, leading to the aircraft being grounded worldwide.
However in a statement last summer, Ryanair said it maintained "utmost confidence" in the Boeing 737-Max aircraft, despite delays to bring them in.
In the memo this week, Ryanair executive Eddie Wilson wrote that the airline's summer schedule relied on the delivery of the 10 planes.
He apologised for the uncertainty for pilots and said the airline would try to prioritise cuts in flight frequencies over the closure of bases.
In November, Ryanair said its revenue grew 11% to €5.39billion (£4.66billion) in the first half of the year, as it carried 86million passengers and made an incredible £1.42billion from add ons like priority boarding.
Profits at the firm were flat at £1billion.
However it admitted that cuts were likely in the coming months.
"We will be forced to cut or close a number of loss making bases this winter leading to pilot and cabin crew job losses," Ryanair said in a statement.
"We continue to work with our people and their unions to finalise this process."
