No smooth landing for Ryanair?
The recent troubles of Irish budget airline Ryanair have demonstrated the importance of effective employee/employer relations and holiday management.
Due to a holiday scheduling error, Ryanair has been left with a shortage of pilots, forcing the aviation giant to cancel up to 50 flights a day.
Despite trying to incentivise staff that are on leave to pick up the slack with tax-free cash bonuses of up to GBP 12,000, Ryanair has found that many pilots are unwilling to work during their scheduled leave. Pilots have instead seen this as a disregard for their personal time and many have opted to sign a letter demanding full employment contracts and better working conditions.
Michael O’Leary, Chief Executive, Ryanair inflamed relations between the pilots and the airline by accusing pilots of being “precious” and claimed that their jobs were easy, stating, “I would challenge any pilot to explain how this is a difficult job.”
O’Leary then went further to threaten his pilots, stating that they would be offered “goodies” but that, “If pilots misbehave, that will be the end of the goodies.” He added that if there was any kind of unofficial industrial action, such as a “blue flu” where staff coordinate sick days, they could “kiss goodbye to any increased pay or base adjustments.”
O’Leary’s comments have received a huge negative backlash across Europe, damaging Ryanair’s reputation. In an effort to attract lost customers, Ryanair has been forced to sell flights within Europe for as little as GBP 5. Ryanair’s pilots are now currently in the process of planning industrial action, which further threatens the operation capacity of the airline in future.
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
