6 Ryanair crew members fired after sleeping on a photo of the airport

Ryanair fired six employees after staging a photo of themselves sleeping on the floor of an airport in Spain, according to several reports.

The Guardian reports that a series of Ryanair flights was immobilized at Malaga's airport in Spain on October 13 as a result of storms in the Portuguese city of Porto.

The Irish Times reports that a group of eight pilots and 16 cabin crew members arriving at the airport shortly after midnight had to spend several hours at the airport and that the delay had been caused by Hurricane Leslie. According to the Irish Times, Ryanair employees had to spend "the night in the crew room at the airport" after being unable to book a hotel room in the Malaga area.

According to CNN, on October 14, a photo began to surface showing employees sleeping on the floor.

CNN reported that security cameras at the airport had filmed a number of camera crew members staging the photo, while they were voluntarily putting themselves in a sleep position, but once the picture was taken, they got up and started walking again.

Read more: Ryanair passenger has filmed a porter casually throwing his luggage on the ground

In a statement to Business Insider, Ryanair confirmed that six cabin crew members in Porto had been fired on Monday, November 5, "for breach of contract for misconduct, after mounting a fake photo at the airport". support of a false claim (widely reported in international newspapers). media that they were "forced to sleep on the floor" in the hall of Malaga teams, behavior that damaged the reputation of their employer and caused an irreparable breach of trust with these six people. "

But according to a statement published in October by the Portuguese Union SNPVAC and published by CNN, "The crew failed, in a gesture of protest, took a picture that immediately became viral: Sunset on the ground was the only option for to rest, suitable dwelling. "

Ryanair has rejected this characterization. If Ryanair told Business Insider that it had nothing to add to their initial statement, CNN reports that the employees only spent a short time in the crew room before being transferred to a VIP lounge and that "the hotels were full" due to the national holiday presence.

A social media user posted the picture of the group of flight attendants posing in sleeping position:

Ryanair has also released employee safety images featuring the photo: