• Ryanair Boeing 737
    Ryanair
    IATA/ICAO Code:
    FR/RYR
    Airline Type:
    Low-Cost Carrier
    Hub(s):
    Dublin Airport, London Stansted Airport, Milan Bergamo Airport
    Year Founded:
    1985
    Airline Group:
    Ryanair Group
    CEO:
    Eddie Wilson
    Country:
    Ireland

Ryanair pilots have been conducting industrial walkouts for most of the past couple of months after the airline, and the pilots' unions have consistently failed to reach amicable agreements during negotiations. Next week, the Belgian pilots' unions are calling for a new strike with their French counterparts, but Ryanair is playing out similar lines of threats of pulling away from Belgian airports.

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Belgian unions remain unsatisfied

This year's summer is undoubtedly becoming one of continuous strikes. Ryanair's pilots are leading the bandwagon as the Belgian and French pilots are scheduling yet another round of industrial walkouts on July 23rd and 24th for the same reasons as during the previous strikes. Though it remains uncertain how many pilots will be taking part next week, an industrial walkout of any scale is still damaging to flight operations and consequential to passengers.

Didier Lebbe, permanent secretary of the Belgian Trade Union CNE, said:

"The reasons are always the same: the non-respect of legislation. But since the last strikes, the attitude of Ryanair’s management has become even more contemptuous and arrogant."

During the initial strikes in April this year, the unions cited poor working conditions, Ryanair's stalling of talks regarding a new labor agreement, and the airline's failure to comply with the Belgian labor law as the primary reasons. However, the recent strikes have been happening for a slightly more exaggerated reason, such as pilots' June salaries not being properly indexed, negotiations having deteriorated, and tensions amplifying.

A Ryanair Boeing 737 is pictured taking off in front of a blurry background.
Photo: Getty Images

Fighting fire with fire

Yet, for the first time since the strikes have happened, Ryanair is choosing to do nothing to prevent the walkout and instead to play an unforeseen offense card of leaving Belgian airports. In a threatening letter sent to the pilot unions based in Belgium, the low-cost carrier's management is stressing on its dismay for the unions to misunderstand the purpose of a strike.

The disappointment was apparent as an excerpt of the letter said:

“If your only tactic is to deny that you ever signed an agreement, refuse to negotiate, and continue to call a strike to try to undermine the 2020 agreement that you negotiated, then there is no hope of a deal and you will eventually have to explain to the pilots why they have to waste money on strikes and why the activity will eventually leave Belgian airports.”

The Irish low-cost carrier emphasized that it has an agreement with 80% of its European pilots, further signaling that the Belgian pilots are less lenient. The threatening letter is coupled with Ryanair's chief feeling confident that even with the ongoing strikes and market chaos, the airline will be doing spectacularly well this year. As it would seem, not betting another glance towards the new threats of industrial walkouts shows how true the chief is keeping to his insights.

Nonetheless, Ryanair is not completely shutting out the Belgian pilots, though the stern warning unquestionably holds some weight to it as the letter also says:

“And that while the company intended to show its goodwill by investigating the possibility of indexation legally required in Belgium. 80% of the pilots in our network are now under new long-term contracts. You indicate that you will never sign a similar agreement in Belgium. If that’s your point of view, so be it. But then you will be on strike for a very long time, harming business and undermining investment in Belgium – which makes up 3% of our activities.”

Thomas_Boon_5-Ryanair-2020
Ryanair has remained optimistic that the strikes will only affect less than 1% of its European flight operations, and ditching Belgian airports seems to be something it can further afford. Photo: Tom Boon | Simple Flying

The threatening line

Although there remains a few days left for either party to prevent these two days of strike, it is crystal clear from Ryanair's response that the Belgian pilots can strike for as long as they wish. In the eyes of one of Europe's most significant low-cost carriers, ditching a small number of airports will not heavily damage its overall profitability and flight operations. Thus, Ryanair has decided that enough is enough, and doing nothing to prevent the strike will be its probable only move from this point forward.

Source: Lesoir