Ryanair enters the closure of Eindhoven despite a ban

The Irish group Ryanair wants to close its base at Eindhoven Airport as scheduled on November 5th. Despite today's verdict by a Den Bosch judge, the airline has taken this decision for illicit reasons. And this Ryanair must in fact give up the closure of Eindhoven

A conflict between the Dutch pilots of Ryanair in Eindhoven and the management of the company in Ireland has become a real legal joust.

It started with Ryanair's announcement. The Eindhoven Airport wants to remove one of its bases. This would mean, among other things, that pilots departing from Eindhoven and returning home are transferred abroad. Those who did not want it would have lost their jobs.

Vengeance

Sixteen pilots joined forces and, with the help of the FNV and VNV unions, went to court. According to the pilots, the closure of the base in Eindhoven would be a real revenge. Because the staff stopped earlier this summer. The judge went there today. "It seems that the decision was taken as a sanction for previous strike action," explained the judge in an explanation.

According to Ryanair, the closure and therefore the transfer of personnel are necessary for commercial reasons. Because Ryanair is constantly striving to offer the lowest costs of its business model, that is why Eindhoven should close now. However, the judge believes that Ryanair has not made plausible the need for a closure. According to the judge, the transfer of staff is therefore of no substantial interest.

Irish law

In the interlocutory proceedings, Ryanair protected the Irish law because the Dutch staff had a contract of employment. This also swept the judge off the table. "This does not mean that an employer can deprive Dutch employees of the protection afforded by Dutch law," writes the court in an explanation

"A great victory for the sixteen pilots and for all Ryanair employees ", jubilant Joost van Doesburg of the VNV pilots association immediately after the verdict. "Ryanair actually thinks that employees should not be allowed to defend their rights, but the judge put an end to this today – a great day for labor law in the Netherlands."

Ryanair is represented by a small army of well-known law firms in Rotterdam, The Hague and Brussels. But the lawyers had agreed with their client not to answer.