Ryanair has been forced to cancel 30 of its 290 Irish flights on Thursday, July 12, after strike action was taken by a number of its pilots. The strike is over disagreements on seniority and promotions after 99 percent supported the action according to pilot union Forsa. Ryanair refuted the numbers quoted, stating that only 27 percent supported the strike in the Republic of Ireland.
According to a statement from Ryanair: “We have tried to avert this disruption, which is unnecessary given Ryanair pilots’ and their union FORSA has received written proposals on seniority, annual leave and base transfers, which are what FORSA claims are the reasons for this strike, yet FORSA has rejected 21 separate invitations to meet Ryanair to negotiate these documents.”
It is anticipated that further strike action may take place on July 25, this time with cabin crew issues over pay and promotions being the cause for dispute.
The current flight cancelations come on the back of a recent spate of flight cancelations owing to air traffic control staff (ATC) shortages in the UK, Germany and France, where strike action has also been involved. However, Ryanair seems to be in dispute with National Air Traffic Services (NATS) over the supposed lack of ATCs. According to a Ryanair tweet last Sunday, 44 percent of their flights were delayed owing to ATC problems.
