2023-06-09 16:29:00
The Covid crisis already seems far away for Ryanair: for the past few months the Irish airline has been reaping profits and record attendance for its planes. A situation that did not escape the Belgian pilots of the low cost carrier. In a letter of which “La Libre” had a copy, the latter ask Eddie Wilson, the boss of Ryanair DAC, the group’s subsidiary active in Belgium, to increase their salaries. “In recent months, we have witnessed an unprecedented rise in pricesexplain the pilots. The aviation sector is no exception to this trend: all airlines, including the Ryanair group, have increased the price of their tickets”. According to the company’s Belgian staff, these price increases mean that Ryanair’s results will be better than initially forecast. “This year will be another record year for the group.”
”We are more useful and efficient”
According to the letter, the airline market is in a new situation “where demand far exceeds available capacity”. “In this context, many companies have increased the salaries of their pilots, thus maintaining the purchasing power of their workers, in an exercise of responsibility, also aware of the sacrifice made by their staff during the pandemic”. Ryanair’s latest annual report would also have highlighted the increase, not only in profits but also in staff productivity. “We are more helpful and efficient, which makes the business more profitable”. It is therefore Ryanair’s duty, according to the pilots, to better reward “the true engine of the company, its workforce”.
No strike threat, but…
And the letter recalls that the pilots had accepted a 20% wage cut at the start of the pandemic, which would have allowed the company to “pass the crisis” and of “better restart” once flight restrictions are lifted. “We believe it is time for Ryanair to show the same loyalty and responsibility that the collective of pilots has towards the company”. The group “must compensate its most precious asset not only for the irrecoverable economic loss during these pandemic years, but also for the constant loss of purchasing power that has never been compensated”.
The pilots are therefore asking that their remuneration be aligned with that “of the other drivers on the market”.
The document does not mention a strike threat for the moment in the event of rejection of their demands, even if the Belgian staff specifies that it is “in Ryanair’s interest to work with pilots who feel valued, which also strengthens their bond with the company”.
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