UTair bond series
6th March 2013
British pilots union BALPA has slammed Ryanair’s decision to go ahead with planned pilot redundancies in the UK as “hypocrisy” given the firm’s decision to tap the country’s COVID 19 aid facility for £600 million.
Last week Ryanair announced it was considering making 3000 redundancies across its whole company and on Tuesday it confirmed this included 336 pilots based in the UK as well as imposing 20% pay cuts and other changes to working conditions
Brian Strutton, BALPA general secretary, said “The hypocrisy of Ryanair taking £600m in support from the British Government which it previously said it did not want is hardly surprising and neither is their cavalier treatment of loyal staff.
“The company is sitting on €4.1billion cash including this latest funding via the Bank of England, and its balance sheet is, in its own words, ‘one of the strongest in the industry’ yet it still wants to make redundancies and impose pay cuts.
“Our question is what assurances did the UK Government get from Ryanair about its workers before the Bank of England handed out the cash? Funding an airline whose own state isn’t offering a penny, when that airline goes on to treat its own staff like this, beggar’s belief.”