Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair has successfully staved off an impending strike after the Irish High Court granted an injunction Wednesday, August 21, preventing the company’s Dublin-based pilots from taking action over pay and conditions. However, shortly afterwards, a London, U.K. court rejected a similar application from Ryanair to stop British pilots from striking. The situation in the U.K. was not as pressing as it was in Ireland as the British Airline Pilots Association, BALPA, has advised Ryanair that any impending strike can be postponed if the company can provide a realistic framework for negotiations.
Irish pilots had planned to strike on August 22 and 23; the carrier has confirmed that all flights for those days are as scheduled. In Portugal, a five-day strike is currently underway, though there appears to be little or no disruption to flights at Faro, Lisbon and Porto airports, with Ryanair confirming that more staff than was necessary had shown up for work. SNPVAC, Portugal’s cabin crew trade union, has already met with the country’s minister for infrastructure to discuss the impending closure of the Ryanair base in Faro.
Cabin crew unions in both Belgium and Spain told cabin crew not to respond to requests from Ryanair to provide coverage for flights affected by Portuguese cabin crew action. Additionally, seven hours of mediated negotiations saw Spanish unions representing cabin crew fail to reach an agreement with Ryanair and plans for a ten-day strike next month remain in place.
