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15th May 2020

Ryanair confirms 250 job losses from four offices, including Dublin

Conor Heneghan

Ryanair

Further announcements on job losses and pay cuts are expected by the end of the month.

Ryanair has confirmed that the loss of 250 jobs from offices in Dublin, Stansted, Madrid and Wroclaw as a result of a substantial decline in traffic due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The job losses are a combination of probation/fixed term contract ends, resignations and redundancies and those affected will not be required to return to work when Ryanair offices reopen on 1 June.

Ryanair recently announced plans to cut 3,000 jobs and implement pay cuts of up to 20%, having operated at less than 1% of its normal flight schedule during the months of April and May, as will also be the case next month.

CEO Michael O’Leary, whose pay was cut by 50% for March and April, also recently agreed to extend his 50% pay cut for the remainder of the financial year to March 2021.

Earlier this week, Ryanair announced plans to resume 40% of its operating schedule in July, as well as the introduction of additional health and hygiene measures on all flights.

Even with the resumption of 40% of services in July, the airline still expects to carry less than 100 million passengers for the full year, over 35% lower than the 155 million+ target for the year ended March 2021.

Commenting on the job losses, People Director Darrell Hughes said it was “a very painful time for Ryanair” and confirmed plans for Ryanair crew job losses and pay cuts before the end of the month.

“This is a very painful time for Ryanair, our crews and our people supporting operations from our Dublin, Stansted, Madrid and Wroclaw offices,” Hughes said.

“While we expect to re-open our offices from 1 June next, we will not require the same number of support team members in a year when we will carry less than 100 million passengers, against an original budget of 155 million.

“Regrettably, we will now have a small number of compulsory redundancies in Dublin, Stansted, Madrid and Wroclaw to right size our support teams for a year when we will carry less than 100m passengers due to the Covid-19 crisis. These job losses were communicated to individual team members this week, and they will not be returning to work in our Dublin, Stansted, Madrid or Wroclaw offices when they reopen on 1 June next.

“We are continuing to meet our pilot and cabin crew unions across Europe to finalise up to 3,000 job cuts and 20% pay cuts as we return to approx. 40% of our normal flight schedules from July onwards.”

Hughes said Ryanair also faced intense price competition across Europe due to competition with airlines which received what he described as “unlawful” and “illegal” state aid subsidies.

“Further announcements on Ryanair crew job losses and pay cuts are expected before the end of May in the light of further and on-going flight restrictions,” the statement concluded.

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