Irish low-cost airline Ryanair has been severely criticized for continuing to sell tickets for flights that are scheduled to travel on dates of planned pilot and cabin crew strikes.
The strikes involve multiple bases and are set to begin this Thursday.
Ryanair’s Brit passengers will most likely be affected by the strikes involving the airline’s UK and Irish pilots, who have both planned to strike on August 22 and 23.
But UK pilots, who are represented by British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA), are also planning to strike from September 2 until September 4.
Ryanair is currently trying to stop both the UK and Irish strike via a court injunction.
British Airline Pilots Association said that they are still hoping to reach a resolution with the airline, but the airline has refused.
In a statement, BALPA General Secretary Brian Strutton said: “Ryanair pilots in the UK have a serious dispute with their company which will not be resolved by raising legal technicalities in the High Court.
“Their attempt to block lawful strike action is just another demonstration of the bullying tactics the airline appears to favour. It means all the time that could have been used to try to find a resolution will now be spent preparing for the court action.”
He added: “It’s also worrying to see Ryanair continue to sell tickets for strike days – are they prepared to offer compensation to passengers if they are affected? I think they should tell passengers exactly where they stand.”
A Ryanair spokesperson said: “BALPA who represent a small number of highly paid UK pilots should not be disrupting the return holiday flights of UK families later this week when Ryanair Captains already earn £180,000 p.a and are now seeking unjustified pay increases of between 65% to 121%.”
The airline also said that it was warning passengers who might be affected by the Irish pilots’ strike, which will involve “less than 25 percent” of its pilots.
There are also ten strike days planned by the airline’s Spanish staff, including pilot and cabin crew, that are set to begin on September 1 and will include 2, 6, 8, 13, 15, 20, 22, 27 and 28.
It follows Ryanair’s announcement that it could cut 900 jobs.
The job cuts were as a result of the late delivery of Boeing’s troubled 737 Max jets, which have been grounded since earlier this year.
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