Ryanair CEO says pilot strikes are necessary to keep air fares down

Strikes by pilots are necessary to keep air fares down, the boss of Ryanair has claimed.

 

Ryanair Chief executive, Michael O’Leary, has claimed that if customers want cheap fares, they’ll have to accept strikes.

 

The comments come after the no frills airline cancelled 150 out of 400 flights to and from Germany on Wednesday due to a 24-hour strike by pilots and cabin crew.

 

In addition, Ryanair employees in Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Italy and Belgium are to strike on 28 September in the latest round of conflict between the airline’s management and staff.

 

“Unfortunately, discussions continue without results,” CNE delegate Yves Lambot said at the labour unions meeting in Brussels.

 

“They have promised to change our contracts into national contracts by 2022. This is too late for us. We want 2019.”

 

Speaking at a press conference in London, Michael O’Leary said: “We will not roll over every time we’re threatened with a strike and concede some higher cost basis.

 

“If you threaten us with a strike and we think your reason for that is unreasonable, then we will take strikes and we will manage our way around those strikes, as we’ve done successfully in Ireland when we had five days of strikes by just 25 per cent of pilots.

 

“We don’t want strikes but we are willing to accept strikes, put up with them, if it means defending our cost basis and our ability to offer low fare air travel to our customers.”