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Ryanair (RYAAY) Pilots in Sweden & Belgium to Begin a Strike

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Per Reuters, Ryanair Holdings PLC’s (RYAAY - Free Report) pilots in Sweden and Belgium will begin a strike on Aug 10. Further worsening the situation, the airline may face another set of walkouts on the same day in Germany and the Netherlands.

The Swedish Airline Pilots Association representing around 40 Ryanair staff alleged that the airline’s management has failed to meet the union representatives for more than eight months. Ryanair cabin crew is already on a strike in Belgium and unions have asked the pilots to join and support them with a stoppage on the same day.

The pilots are looking for more transparency with regard to promotions and transfers, thus reducing undue management discretion. Meanwhile, the cabin crew is demanding local contracts and improved conditions.

The Swedish union has further claimed that ever since Ryanair acknowledged unions last December, the budget carrier has failed to come to conclusive agreements with any union across Europe.

Earlier, in July, cabin crew in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Belgium called for a two-day strike, forcing the carrier to cancel several flights affecting more than 50,000 customers.

Despite the back-to-back strikes, Ryanair is not likely to give in to the demands of the employees too soon. In fact, the carrier plans to move jobs away to Poland if the strikes continued to hurt its operations. Notably, the company is planning to shift aircraft and jobs out of Dublin as strikes in the city have affected the carrier’s bookings. It plans to reduce the Dublin-based fleet by approximately 20% this winter.

Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said that the carrier is short of aircraft in almost every market and one of those is the immensely growing Polish market. While the Irish market has been hampered lately due to the untoward incidents, the Polish market is more lucrative. Thus, the airline intends to move aircraft to Poland.

Shares of Ryanair have declined 9.5% in the last three months, primarily due to the ongoing labor unrest.



 

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