Michael O’Leary has pleaded with his pilots to stick with the airline and insisted he wasn’t referring to them when he suggested it was ‘an easy job’.
In the three page letter sent to all pilots yesterday evening, the Ryanair boss promised significant improvements in pay and conditions, saying he would exceed rates paid by rivals such as Norwegian and improve job security.
The airline has faced a storm of criticism in recent weeks after announcing the cancellation of 715,000 customers’ flights, after realising it did not have enough pilots to ensure the smooth operation of its schedule.
Mr O’Leary said the airline will now deliver ‘significant improvements to your rosters, your pay, your basing, your contracts and your career progression over the next 12 months,’ he said in the letter addressed “to all Ryanair pilots”.
Michael O’Leary has pleaded with his pilots to stick with the airline and insisted he wasn’t referring to them when he suggested it was ‘an easy job’
In the letter, he claimed he hadn’t been referring to Ryanair pilots when he claimed at the company’s AGM last month that pilots get ‘very well paid for doing what is a very easy job’.
He said at the time that pilots only worked an average of 18 hours a week and that ‘the computer does most of the flying. They are very skilled professionals.’
Last night, he insisted that he had been referring to unionised pilots in other airlines.
‘I emphasised (as I always do) that Ryanair’s pilots are the best in the business, who work hard, are well trained, and extremely professional.
He added: ‘The critical comments taht I did make were specifically directed at pilots of competitor airlines and their unions who take every opportunity to criticise and denigrate Ryanair, our pilots, our safety, our operating performance and our business model despite our collective 30-year success’.
In the three page letter sent to all pilots yesterday evening, the Ryanair boss promised significant improvements in pay and conditions
‘My criticism of these competitor pilots and their false claims are valid’.
Mr O’Leary said that he has always tried to treat the pilots with respect and urged them not to allow rival airlines to criticise Ryanair’s success.
He said: ‘I have over 30 years interacted personally and professionally with many of our pilots. Over this period I have always tried to be courteous, respectful and grateful for the outstanding job that you do, and this will remain my approach.
‘I treat you with the respect you are due as senior professionals in Ryanair, and I equally expect each of you to ensure that Ryanair is treated with the respect you are entitled to. We are a very secure employer – in a very secure industry – and so I ask you please so not allow competitor pilots or their local unions to demean or disparage our collective success.’
In a section on page 2 titled ‘Learning from this mistake’, Mr O’Leary set out future plans for the pilots, including previously mooted pay increases of up to €10,000, a 12 month loyalty/productivity bonus of up to €12,000 for captains and investment in technology such as iPads to deliver more apps to make it easier for pilots to request leave and roster changes.
Mr O’Leary told pilots the airline will now deliver ‘significant improvements to your rosters, your pay, your basing, your contracts and your career progression over the next 12 months’
Mr O’Leary also partly dealt with demands by pilots at different bases across Europe for permanent contracts that would be based on local laws.
In his letter, he said Ryanair would negotiate on any differences in conditions between Ryanair’s Irish contracts and those offered by local laws at European bases.
However, he stressed while he believed the differences would be ‘very few’, the pilots will ‘continue to be employed on Irish contracts of employment’.
The letter also promised to benchmark pilots’ pay against Ryanair’s 737 competitors such as Jet2 and Norwegian.
He said that if any pilot could provide evidence that rival airlines at their base are paying more, they would not only match it but ‘beat it’.
He said that the pay increases will allow Ryanair to target 7373 recruits from ‘weaker, lower pay airlines’.
He included a screenshot of Norwegian’s financial performance at the bottom of the letter, claiming that the airline was in ‘trouble’. He added: If you have or are considering joining one of these less financially secure/or Brexit challenged airlines, I urge you to stay with Ryanair for a brighter and better future for you and your family.’
The airline has faced a storm of criticism in recent weeks after announcing the cancellation of 715,000 customers’ flights, after realising it did not have enough pilots to ensure the smooth operation of its schedule
Mr O’Leary signed the letter with ‘Best wishes’.
A Ryanair pilot, who asked to remain anonymous, told the MailOnline: ‘As expected it’s more propaganda rather than actually addressing the issues.
‘Everyone at Ryanair has known about the pilot shortage for months and months. It’s a running joke that “no we’re not short of pilots ” when it’s crystal clear we are.
Pilots are continually being sent out of base to operate from 1 to 5 days in other bases.
‘This can be anywhere in the network with contractors having to organise and pay for everything themselves and get an extra €20 per block hour.
‘If your accommodation costs more than you make you are out of pocket.’
Ryanair did not respond to request for comment last night.