Turbulence at Ryanair: what's going on with the Irish price hunter?

The size is complete for many Ryanair employees. Across Europe, cabin crew are quitting, demanding better working conditions and higher wages. The pressure to adjust staff policy is greatly increased by the Irish price hunter.

Now that the economy is picking up, Ryanair employees also want to go ahead. According to the unions, the airline can take some big steps in terms of salary. A calculation of the FNV shows that Ryanair's salary costs are about half those of competitor EasyJet – a company also known as a price fighter.

Nevertheless, the level of wages is not the only objection of employees. The biggest problem, according to the unions, is that Ryanair wants to apply Irish labor law and not local labor legislation. "By applying Irish rules, Ryanair manages to reduce staff costs," says Asmae Hajjari, driver of the FNV. "The Ryanair crew is only paid for flying hours, they are not paid for all work before and after the flight, nor for overtime due to delays."

Ryanair does not want to answer questions about the situation, but underlines a general response to the cabin crew's privileges. This would include long weekends, free training and ongoing payment in case of illness. The company also indicates that a new collective agreement is being negotiated, for example in Italy and Germany.

Travelers

It appears that some 100,000 passengers will be affected by cabin crew strikes. Still, it does not appear that Ryanair will allow passengers to file a claim for compensation. For example, in a letter to the Dutch claims agencies, the airline requests that the claims be stopped on behalf of the passengers.

And this is not without reason. Strikes and shortages also depress profit at the price of a fighter. For example, net profit decreased by 20% over last year despite the fact that sales increased.