Ryanair feels strike and its profits decline

Ryanair recorded a lower profit in the first six months of its fiscal year than in the previous year. The Irish airline introduces the high number of cancellations as an explanation. According to the budget company, many flights have fallen due to staff shortages and strikes in recent months.

By the end of September, about 250 flights had been lost due to a 24-hour strike. Pilots, stewards and hostesses did the work in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Italy. This is due to discontent with low hourly wages and poor working conditions. Some Ryanair staff, mainly pilots, have recently been paid higher salaries, but no collective agreement has yet been reached with the majority.

Also in the Netherlands, last month was interrupted and shortly after, Ryanair announced that it wanted to close the base in Eindhoven. According to staff, retaliatory action. The airline wants to transfer all staff from Eindhoven to destinations elsewhere in Europe.

See also: Air hostess at Ryanair: 19,000 euros a year

The airline's half-yearly figures show that Ryanair made a profit of 1.2 billion euros. euros, against 1, 3 billion a year earlier. However, the company's turnover increased by 8% to 4.79 billion euros. The number of passengers increased from 4.5 million to 76.6, but the average ticket price decreased by 3%. The company expects the price of the ticket to drop further by about 2% over the next period. There are also concerns about Ryanair's tough Brexit. This could be negative for the company

Racist Incident

Apart from the conflicts with the staff, Ryanair is under fire from the critics since this weekend because of a racist incident. This came out through a video that was much shared on social media. The video shows that a white man in a plane last Friday refuses to sit next to a black woman. He calls him "dirty black bastard" and threatens to push her to another place. "Do not talk to me in a foreign language, stupid, ugly cow," says the man. The stewards then guide the woman to another place, not the man.

According to critics, the stewards would not have acted strong enough against the man. They should have also intervened earlier. In a reaction Ryanair said he was aware of the video and reported the incident to the police.