& Submits Competition Complaint To EU Commission Over Competitor Airline Pilots/Cabin Crew Interference In Its Trade Union Negotiations
Ryanair has today (Wed 26 Sept) published its offer to pilots and cabin crew in order to set the record straight, correct competitor trade union propaganda and pave the way to a speedy conclusion of collective labour agreements (CLA’s) with its people and their unions.
Ryanair has also submitted a competition complaint to the European Commission, calling for an investigation of the anti-competitive behaviour of certain competitor airline crew, unions and lobby groups, who are actively impeding Ryanair’s negotiations with its pilots/cabin crew and who are organising repeated strikes in an effort to damage Ryanair’s business and customer confidence, for the benefit of Ryanair’s competitors.
Ryanair has made significant progress over the past 9 months in negotiations with trade unions across Europe, which include:
– Irish recognition agreement with FORSA union, covering pilots, and cabin crew.
– Irish mediation agreement covering pilot seniority, promotions, and base transfers.
– Recognition and CLA agreements for all Ryanair pilots based in Italy.
– Recognition and CLA agreements for all cabin crew based in Italy.
– Recognition agreement with BALPA covering all UK based pilots.
– Recognition agreement with Unite covering all UK based cabin crew.
– Recognition agreement with Verdi to cover German cabin crew.
Despite all this progress in a short 9-month period, Ryanair continues to face significant impediments in certain countries where competitor airline pilots and cabin crew are interfering in negotiations, or blocking progress, up to and including organising unnecessary strikes, most notably;
– In Spain, Norwegian cabin crew in Alicante are organising these cabin crew strikes.
– In Portugal, TAP cabin crew are organising these strikes.
– In the Netherlands, the pilots union insist that a KLM pilot negotiates with Ryanair.
– In Sweden, pilot unions refused to meet unless a Braathens pilot is invited.
Ryanair has complained that some 8% of its (450,000) customers are facing strikes and flight disruptions on Fri 28th Sept over demands made 2 weeks ago by these competitor airline pilots and cabin crew, which Ryanair has already agreed to, including:
– Local contracts in Belgium, Netherlands, Spain and Germany in early 2019.
– Local law and local tax as part of a CLA in early 2019.
– National seniority lists, similar to that agreed in Ireland.
– Base transfer agreements based on seniority (as already agreed in Ireland).
Ryanair’s business is being damaged by unnecessary strikes and disruptive interference in our bona fide union negotiations, promoted and coordinated by competitor airline employees, their unions and lobby groups. This is an unlawful attempt to distort competition and customer choice, for the benefit of legacy airlines. Ryanair calls on DG COMP to immediately investigate the nature of this collective campaign, including numerous behind-closed-doors meetings held under the banners of the ECA (competitor pilots) and the ITF (competitor cabin crew). The object and effect of this unlawful behaviour has been to impede the progress of Ryanair’s industrial relations engagement regardless of the status of individual union negotiations, as evidenced by the unnecessary pan European strike on Fri 28 Sept, which was agreed in a meeting of several cabin crew unions in Rome on 7 Sept last.
Ryanair has offered to meet with our people and their unions in every EU country with the only pre-condition being no competitor employee involvement. Lufthansa does not allow Ryanair people to join in its union negotiations in Germany. Similarly, in Spain and Portugal, when Iberia and TAP meet their unions, they do not negotiate with Ryanair pilots or cabin crew. While Ryanair is new to the process of negotiating with unions, it is simply unlawful and anti-competitive that certain unions are insisting that competitor airline pilots and cabin crew participate in meetings with Ryanair, where our business, pay and terms and conditions are discussed.
Speaking in Brussels today, Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said:
“We have made real progress with the unions and our people in many EU countries since we agreed to recognise unions in Dec 2017. However, in certain countries, most notably in Portugal, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, and Sweden similar progress is being impeded by the interference of competitor airline pilots and cabin crew who are conspiring to call repeated and unnecessary strikes, which are disrupting Ryanair’s customers, and damaging our business for the benefit of their legacy airline employers.
We are not aware of any other multi-national company in Europe where its union negotiations are interfered with by competitor employees. Volkswagen’s union negotiations do not take place with Peugeot car workers. Tesco is not required to meet with ASDA employees. Yet in Ryanair currently, we are being asked to negotiate with pilots and/or cabin crew of Aer Lingus, Norwegian, TAP, Eurowings, KLM and Braathens. This is anti-competitive behaviour which damages consumers.
The majority of Ryanair’s pilots and cabin crew do not support these strikes, and they have continued to work normally. We work hard to ensure that our people enjoy the best pay, terms and conditions of any low cost 737 airline in Europe. Our pilots and cabin crew wish to come to work free from intimidation from these competitor unions. They are being denied this opportunity by unnecessary strikes, which are being organised unlawfully on a Europe wide basis in meetings of competitor airline pilots and cabin crew. This is damaging Ryanair’s business for the benefit of legacy airlines. We have today published our offer to pilots and cabin crew, and call on the European Commission – if it’s going to defend the growth of low fare air travel and consumer choice – to take action now to prevent these competitor airline employees from interfering with our business and damaging the best interests of our customers to the benefit of high fare legacy airlines”.
Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (26 Sep) announced a new route from Bournemouth to Prague, with a twice-weekly service commencing in April 2019, which will be a part of Ryanair’s Summer 19 schedule.
British consumers and visitors can now enjoy even lower fares and the latest “Always Getting Better” improvements including:
– Reduced checked-in bag fees
– lower £25 x 20kg check bag
– lower £8 x 10kg check bag
– Ryanair Rooms with 10% off Travel Credit
– Ryanair Transfers
– wider choice of ground transport with new partner Car Trawler
Ryanair’s Robin Kiely said:
“Ryanair is pleased to announce a new Bournemouth route to Prague, commencing in April 2019, which will operate twice-weekly as part of our Summer 2019 schedule.
“To celebrate we are releasing seats for sale on this new route from £24.99 for travel in April 2019. This offer is available for booking until midnight Friday (28 Sept). Since these amazing low fares will be snapped up quickly, customers should log onto www.ryanair.com and avoid missing out.”
Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (26 Sep) announced two new routes from Gothenburg and Stockholm Skavsta to Prague, with a twice-weekly service to Gothenburg and three weekly services to Stockholm Skavsta commencing in April 2019, which will be a part of Ryanair’s Summer 19 schedule.
Swedish consumers and visitors can now enjoy even lower fares and the latest “Always Getting Better” improvements including:
– Reduced checked-in bag fees
– lower €25 x 20kg check bag
– lower €8 x 10kg check bag
– Ryanair Rooms with 10% off Travel Credit
– Ryanair Transfers
– wider choice of ground transport with new partner Car Trawler
Ryanair’s Chris Lundshøj said:
“Ryanair is pleased to announce a new Gothenburg and Stockholm Skavsta routes to Prague, commencing in April 2019, which will operate twice-weekly to Gothenburg and three weekly to Stockholm Skavsta as part of our Summer 2019 schedule.
To celebrate we are offering 1 million seats up to 20% off for travel October to February (not available 18 Dec 18 – 07 Jan 2019). This offer is available for booking until midnight Thursday (27 Sept). Since these amazing low fares will be snapped up quickly, customers should log onto www.ryanair.com and avoid missing out.”
Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (26 Sep) announced one new route from Riga to Prague, with a three weekly service commencing in April 2019, which will be a part of Ryanair’s Summer 19 schedule.
Latvian consumers and visitors can now enjoy even lower fares and the latest “Always Getting Better” improvements including:
– Reduced checked-in bag fees
– lower €25 x 20kg check bag
– lower €8 x 10kg check bag
– Ryanair Rooms with 10% off Travel Credit
– Ryanair Transfers
– wider choice of ground transport with new partner Car Trawler
Ryanair’s Chris Lundshøj said:
“Ryanair is pleased to announce a new Riga route to Prague, commencing in April 2019, which will operate three times weekly to Riga as part of our Summer 2019 schedule.
To celebrate we are offering 1 million seats up to 20% off for travel October to February (not available 18 Dec 18 – 07 Jan 2019). This offer is available for booking until midnight Thursday (27 Sept). Since these amazing low fares will be snapped up quickly, customers should log onto www.ryanair.com and avoid missing out.”
Ryanair, Europas foretrukne flyselskab, annoncerede i dag (d.26. sept.) en ny rute fra Billund med tre ugentlige afgange og en ny rute fra København med en daglig afgang, hvor begge er til Prag og starter i april 2019, og de er en del af Ryanairs sommertrafikprogram 2019.
Danske kunder og besøgende kan nu se frem til endnu lavere prisere og de seneste forbedring i “Always Getting Better” kundeforbedringsprogrammet der indholder:
– Nedsatte gebyr på indtjekket bagage
– €25 x 20kg indtjekket bagage
– €8 x 10kg indtjekket bagage
– Ryanair Rooms med 10% rabat som Rejsekredit
– Ryanair Transfers
– bredere udvalg af transport med Car Trawler som ny partner
Ryanairs Chris Lundshøj udtalte:
“Ryanair er glad for at annoncere den nye Billund og nye København rute til Prag, begge starter i april 2019, og ruten til Billund flyves tre gange ugentligt, og en gang dagligt til København, som en del af vores sommertrafikprogram 2019.
For at fejre dette har vi op til 20% rabat på 1 million flybilletter for rejser i oktober til februar (ikke tilgængeligt fra 18/12-18 til 7/1-19). Dette tilbud er tilgængeligt for booking indtil torsdag midag (d.27. sept.). Disse super lave priser vil hurtigt blive snuppet, derfor bør kunderne skynde sig ind på www.ryanair.com og undgå af gå glip af dette tilbud.”
Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (26 Sep) announced a new route from Zadar to Prague, with a twice-weekly service commencing in April 2019, which will be a part of Ryanair’s Summer 2019 schedule.
Croatian consumers and visitors can now enjoy even lower fares and the latest “Always Getting Better” improvements including:
– Reduced checked-in bag fees
– lower €25 x 20kg check bag
– lower €8 x 10kg check bag
– Ryanair Rooms with 10% off Travel Credit
– Ryanair Transfers
– wider choice of ground transport with new partner Car Trawler
– Punctuality Promise
– 90% of Ryanair flights will be on time
Ryanair’s Sales & Marketing Manager for CEE and Balkans – Olga Pawlonka said:
“Ryanair is pleased to announce a new Zadar route to Prague, commencing in April 2019, which will operate twice-weekly as a part of our Summer 2019 schedule.
To celebrate we are releasing seats for sale from Zadar from €14,99 for booking until 28th September and for travel in October. Since these amazing low fares will be snapped up quickly, customers should log onto www.ryanair.com and avoid missing out.”
15 Nových Linek, 2 Nová Bázovaná Letadla (Investice 200 Miliónů Usd), 2,1 Mil. Cestujících A 23% Nárůst
Ryanair, evropský letecký dopravce č. 1, dnes ve středu 26. září zveřejnil svou rekordní nabídku leteckých spojení, kterou bude z Prahy nabízet v rámci letního letového řádu v roce 2019. Na Letišti Václava Havla Praha bude mít bázovaná další dvě letadla a do své sítě přidá 15 nových linek: Ammán, Bari, Billund, Bournemouth, Kodaň, Göteborg, Marrákeš, Marseille, Paříž, Pescara, Pisa, Riga, Stockholm, Benátky a Zadar. V letovém řádu společnosti bude tak celkem 30 linek z pražského letiště, díky kterým přepraví až 2,1 milionů cestujících ročně a navýší provoz o 23 %.
Letní letový řád společnosti Ryanair pro sezónu léto 2019 nabídne:
– 2 další bázovaná letadla (investice v hodnotě 200 miliónů USD), celkem 4 stroje
– 15 nových linek: Ammán (2x týdně), Bari (2x týdně), Billund (3x týdně), Bournemouth (2x týdně), Kodaň (denně), Göteborg (2x týdně), Marrákeš (2x týdně), Marseille (2x týdně), Paříž (3x týdně), Pescara (2x týdně), Pisa (3x týdně), Riga (3x týdně), Stockholm (3x týdně), Benátky (4x týdně) a Zadar (2x týdně)
– Celkem 30 linek operovaných z/do Prahy
– Více než 130 letů týdně
– 2,1 mil. přepravených cestujících ročně (+23 %)
– Vytvoří až 1 200* pracovních míst na letišti ročně
Čeští i zahraniční cestující si tak mohou již nyní zarezervovat cesty na letní dovolenou 2019 za nejnižší tarify na všech 30 linkách dopravce. Na oslavu tohoto kroku společnost Ryanair zahájila prodej letenek na linkách z Prahy za cenu začínající na pouhých 529,- Kč pro cesty v dubnu 2019, které musí být zarezervovány do páteční půlnoci (28. září) prostřednictvím webových stránek www.ryanair.com.
David O’Brien, obchodní ředitel společnosti Ryanair, k tomu v Praze řekl:
„Společnost Ryanair těší, že může rozšířit počet letadel bázovaných v Praze o další dvě a dostat se na celkový počet 4 strojů v rámci našeho zatím nejrozsáhlejšího letního letového řádu, který nabídne spojení na 30 linkách, včetně 15 zcela nových letů do atraktivních destinací jako například Kodaň, Marrákeš nebo Pisa. Celkem tak do/z Prahy přepravíme 2,1 miliónu cestujících a podpoříme růst českých linek, provozu, turistického ruchu i pracovních pozic.
Tento krok oslavíme prodejem míst na nové linky za ceny od pouhých 529,- Kč pro lety uskutečněné v dubnu 2019. Lety za tyto ceny si cestující mohou rezervovat do páteční půlnoci (28. září). Místa za tak neuvěřitelné ceny se určitě rychle vyprodají, proto by se zájemci měli rychle přihlásit na www.ryanair.com a předejít tomu, že se na ně nedostane.“
Václav Řehoř, předseda představenstva Letiště Praha, dodal:
„Vítáme rozhodnutí letecké společnosti Ryanair rozšířit počet nabízených letů z Prahy v období letního letového řádu 2019, zejména pak zavedení letů do nových destinací Billund, Bournemouth, Pescara a Zadar, se kterými v současné době pravidelné přímé letecké spojení z Prahy neexistuje. Spolu s dříve oznámenými novinkami do Ammánu a Marrákeše tak společnost Ryanair významně rozšiřuje možnosti přímých letů pro české cestující a zároveň usnadní dostupnost Prahy a České republiky pro zahraniční návštěvníky z uvedených trhů.“
** Průzkum společnosti ACI potvrdil, že každý milión přepravených cestujících pomůže na mezinárodním letišti vytvořit až 750 pracovních míst.