The pilots will follow their colleagues in Ireland, Belgium and Sweden with 250 more flights to be grounded
Germany-based Ryanair pilots have decided to take part in upcoming strikes. On Friday, 10 August, 250 flights to or from Germany will be grounded because of the industrial action.
The strikes have been confirmed by a pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit. Around 400 employees will join the walkout.
German Customer Notice: pic.twitter.com/K3Pgt26qgi
— Ryanair (@Ryanair) August 8, 2018
The pilots will join their colleagues in Ireland, Sweden and Belgium who will strike on the same day.
“We demand improvements in pay and working conditions,” said Martin Locher, president of the German union. “Improvements are inconceivable without an increase in personnel cockpit costs. During negotiations, Ryanair categorically ruled out any such increases. At the same time, Ryanair has not shown any interest to find solutions.
The carrier has called the walkouts unjustified and blames the union for not giving notice seven days ahead so that they could have informed affected passengers accordingly.
“We regret the decision of the VC to go ahead with this unnecessary strike action given that we sent through a revised proposal on a Collective Labour Agreement (on Friday 3 August) and stated our intention to work towards achieving a CLA together. We also invited VC to meet us on Tuesday (7 August) but they did not respond to this invitation,” said Kenny Jacobs.
“Our pilots in Germany enjoy excellent working conditions. They are paid up to €190,000 p.a. and, as well as additional benefits, they received a 20 per cent pay increase at the start of this year. Ryanair pilots earn at least 30 per cent more than Eurowings and 20 cent more than Norwegian pilots.
“We asked VC to provide us with at least 7 days’ notice of any planned strike action so that we could notify our customers of cancelled flights in advance and offer them alternative flights or refunds, but they have refused to do this and instead call an unnecessary strike in Germany in just two days’ time.
“Ryanair is now forced to cancel 250 flights of over 2,400 flights scheduled to operate on Friday 10 August. We apologise to our customers for this unnecessary strike and regrettable disruption.”
