Some flights between Ireland and the UK are set to be affected.
Following a lengthy battle between Ryanair, the Irish Air Line Pilots Association (IALPA) and Irish trade union FÓRSA, the budget airline has confirmed that a 30 out of their 290 scheduled flights will not go ahead this Thursday, 12 July.
Ryanair
released a statement on Tuesday afternoon to confirm this, writing that this situation would ideally have been avoided.
"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," the statement read.
According to the airline, Ireland to Europe flights will operate as normal, as the majority of Irish pilots fly on Thursdays.
Ryanair defended their stance as an employer, claiming that Ryanair pilots enjoy quite impressive benefits regarding pay, holidays and job security.
"Ryanair pilots have already secured a 20% pay increase, earn up to €200,000 p.a., work 5 days-on, followed by 4 days-off (a double bank holiday weekend at the end of every week), enjoy rapid promotions and unmatched job security."
The statement went on to say that further disruptions could not be ruled out.
"We cannot rule out further disruptions in July and August, especially when some Aer Lingus pilots wrote officially to the DAA on 25 June – some 10 days before the results of the Ryanair pilot ballot were known – to advise that they were “contemplating a series of 1 and 2 days strikes in July and August”," it read.
"It is unacceptable that competitor airline pilots are actively organising strikes by Ryanair’s pilots when these airlines will be the direct beneficiaries of any such disruption."
It is believed that the pilots, who are directly employed by the airline, voted for strike action following a dispute over management’s approach to transferring pilots between its European and African bases.
It was also announced last week that
cabin crews in Portugal, Italy, Spain and Belgium were also set to strike in solidarity with their colleagues.
Customers who are travelling on a Ryanair flight to/from Ireland on Thursday 12 July and who have not already received an email or text notification, should expect that their flight will operate as planned.
These passengers should check in as normal at their departure airport on Thursday.
