DUBLIN (Reuters) - Irish airline Ryanair (RYA.I) has told over 300 pilots and cabin crew that they may lose their jobs as it cuts its Dublin-based fleet by 20 percent for the winter season after recent strikes hurt bookings and airfares in its home market.
A stranded Ryanair passenger checks her phone, on the first day of a cabin crew strike held in several European countries, at the Adolfo Suarez Madrid Barajas airport in Madrid, Spain, July 25, 2018. REUTERS/Susana Vera
The low cost carrier, Europe’s largest by passenger numbers, is in the middle of its worst week of stoppages in more than three decades of flying as it struggles in talks with trade unions whom it has decided to recognize for the first time.
Around a quarter of its Dublin-based pilots staged their third 24-hour stoppage in two weeks on Tuesday while cabin crew in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Belgium began a two-day strike on Wednesday, prompting Ryanair to cancel more than 12 percent of its flights.
Warning investors on Monday of more strikes this summer, Chief Executive Michael O’Leary said he would consider moving aircraft from Ireland, Belgium and Portugal and acted swiftly within 48 hours.
“If our reputation for reliability or forward bookings is affected, then base and potential job cuts such as these at Dublin are a deeply regretted consequence,” Ryanair Chief Operating Officer Peter Bellew said in a statement.
Ryanair said it expected few route closures from Dublin as a result of reducing the fleet to 24 from 30, but that some routes may suffer frequency reductions as it moves the aircraft to its Polish airline, Ryanair Sun, which it said was enjoying rapid growth.
It will begin redundancy consultations with over 100
