Turbulence at Ryanair

Ryanair is going through a turbulent time. The Irish low-cost airline has had a number of organisational problems that has led it to cancel more than 2,000 flights “to improve punctuality”. Europe’s largest airline and the second largest in Barcelona airport puts the delays down to air traffic controller strikes, bad weather and holidays by pilots and cabin crew. Yet, apart from that, the truth is that Norwegian has taken some 140 of their pilots, while those that remain refuse to give up their holidays to improve the operation.

The pilots say "no"

Most of Ryanair’s pilots have turned down the company’s offer to pay them to work on their days off. Specifically, the low-cost airline offered pilots 12,000 euros and copilots 6,000 euros if they would do an extra 800 hours of flying a year until the end of October 2018.

The general refusal is largely due to the difficulty in keeping to the regulation flying hours if they accept the bonus: European rules say that pilots can only fly 900 hours a year and 100 hours in a month.

Ryanair chairman, Michael O'Leary, in his inimitable style, said that he can “force his pilots to suspend their holidays to reduce the pressure on the workload,” and he also insisted that there is no shortage of pilots.

Meanwhile, the Irish company wants to take on new pilots from Brazil and Europe so that it can fulfill its flight schedule. According to Brazilian sources, Ryanair last month organised events to recruit pilots in the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. The Irish airline has also organised similar events in Italy and Germany to attract pilots from rival airlines, such as Alitalia or Air Berlin, which have the same problem.

Conflict with the administration

Spain’s minister of public works, Íñigo de la Serna, has opened an investigation into the suspension of 514 flights from and to Spain, which could end up with the firm being fined up to 4.5 million euros.

Meanwhile, the Catalan business and knowledge minister, through the Catalan consumer agency, sent Ryanair an information request after hundreds of flights were cancelled in Catalonia. The Catalan government wants reassurance that the Irish airline is complying with its obligations to passengers and is protecting the rights of those affected by the cancellations.

Italy has also opened an investigation into alleged bad sales practices on behalf of Ryanair. In Italy, the airline is to cancel 37.5 % of the flights it has scheduled.

Ryanair and Norwegian, from love to hate

Part of Ryanair’s staffing problems come from rival Norwegian taking 140 of their pilots. The relationship between the two airlines has deteriorated, from joining forces to stealing staff. If a few months ago Ryanair and Norwegian were looking into jointly offering connections from Barcelona Airport, now the Norwegian company is stealing Ryanair’s staff and looking to work with Easyjet.

Ryanair’s CEO and that of Norwegian, Bjørn Kjos, appear to have been on the verge of making an historic alliance at Barcelona Airport, but it has come to nothing.

This became clear after the summer with the news: EasyJet will allow the use of its website to reserve long-distance flights from Gatwick, in collaboration with Norwegian and WestJet, something that will attract those looking for connections on long-distance flights to North and South America, and Singapore. Until now, some 200,000 passengers a year used EasyJet flights to connect with a long-distance flight from Gatwick, but reserving the two services separately. Passengers will now be able to reserve everything from the UK airline’s website.

It is an agreement that leaves the “advanced talks” Ryanair said it was having with Norwegian to feed its flights from Barcelona nowhere. "Bearing in mind that we have the largest network of routes in Europe, it is a logical move and a very attractive proposal," announced the Irish airline. Meanwhile Norwegian admitted the contact with Ryanair, but also said it was talking to other airline companies.

EasyJet is one of Norwegian’s best partners in the UK, but Ryanair is the best option in Barcelona. And Ryanair needs the Scandinavian airline so that it is not left out of a business it has so far not been brave enough to get involved in: long-distance flights. Even though in 2015 the Irish firm approved an expansion plan to open new trans-Atlantic routes to the United States, it has still not gone ahead with it. The company wanted to offer destinations "from among some 12 to 14 European cities and 12 to 14 North American cities" in four or five years. However, the plans depended on acquiring a fleet of long-distance planes. Ryanair said it was on Boeing’s waiting list.

Yet, it seems that Level –with Airbus and Norwegian –with the same fleet of 20 Boeing planes as Ryanair- have got ahead of the Irish company’s plans.