Is aviation special? No, not anymore. It is however different in that it relies on a never ending supply of wannabes that have a minimum of €100k to buy training and 18 months minimum to spare earning nothing during that training. In some cases they then have buy their job, pay for their own airline training and either work zero hours contracts or pay to fly. So I’d argue it is different from many industries, when taken in sum.
Mik3 you are right that FR have an endless gene pool of potential employees willing to sign up. I know 8 people this year that have done already. Two withdrew their acceptance when they found something with better terms, and the other 6 are there to get hours and then get out as soon as they can. Out of the dozen or so pilots I’ve known at FR only one remains, and is only there because they finally managed to get the basing they wanted.
Most businesses acknowledge some sort of stability is a positive thing. FR achieved it for a long time because there was nowhere else to go. Now they are chasing there tails trying to cover crew losses. But if this is the 21st century way to do business where shareholder value is the only thing that matters, we’re set for interesting times.
Suggest you google “Ryanair tax evasion”. Nothing has stuck but is ongoing. However I guess it’s a responsibility to minimise tax burden to maximise profit. All in the interests of social benefit of course.