Ryanair's UK and Ireland pilots are set to go on strike on Thursday and Friday. Yesterday, the British Airline Pilots Association said that Ryanair had blown its shot at resolving the dispute.

Just over a month ago, BALPA announced it was balloting pilots on potential strike action. Following this, on the 7th of September, the union announced its members would be going on strike. Additionally, on Friday we reported that the British pilots' Irish counterparts would join the strike action. With Ryanair's main base located close to London, striking pilots could potentially cause serious disruption.

Why are Ryanair's pilots going on strike?

Ryanair pilots are threatening strike action due to pay and conditions. BALPA previously said it had tabled a claim addressing “pensions, loss of license insurance, maternity benefits, allowances, and a fair, transparent, and consistent pay structure”.

As the union was unable to come to an agreement with Ryanair regarding the above points, it decided to table the idea of strike action to its members. According to Ryanair, BALPA represents less than 50% of Ryanair's UK pilots. However, of these, 57% voted for strike action.

Ryanair low cost model
London Stansted is Ryanair's largest base. Photo: Ryanair

What is Ryanair's response?

Ryanair is understandably not pleased that its pilots are planning to go on strike in two days. In fact, the airline is going to appear at the British High Court tomorrow to seek an injunction to stop strike action. In a letter to BALPA, the airline stated that just 28% of their 1,450 British pilots had voted for strike action. This equates to around 400 pilots.

The reason the number is low is that only around half of Ryanair's UK pilots are a member of BALPA. On top of this, the airline claims that over 44% of BALPA members voted against strike action or abstained from voting.

In a letter to BALPA, Darrell Hughes, the Director of HR Strategy & Operations at Ryanair said,

"At this difficult time for UK pilots facing base cuts and closures, BALPA should be working with Ryanair to save UK pilot jobs, not endanger them through ill-timed and ill-judged disruption of our customers’ travel plans, just 10 weeks before the threat of a no-deal Brexit."

Ryanair Staff Surplus
The airline is seeking an injunction to block strike action. Photo: Ryanair

Will the strike go ahead?

It's impossible to say the strike will or won't go ahead. Ryanair will appear before the High Court in London tomorrow, attempting to secure an injunction stopping the strike action. Both BALPA and Ryanair will give their case before a decision is reached.

If Ryanair is successful, the strike will not go ahead. However, if it is not successful, the strikes could still go ahead unless an agreement is reached between parties. Earlier this year, British Airways was unsuccessful at securing an injunction preventing its pilots from striking.

Simple Flying will keep readers up to date with the outcome of the injunction hearing due to be held tomorrow.

Are you due to fly with Ryanair? Do you support or oppose the strikes? Let us know in the comments.