Ryanairpilot,
You suggest that the alternative to compulsory unpaid leave is that Ryanair will fail (your word) and all will lose their jobs. If that really were the case then a week of unpaid leave for all would indeed be a wise choice. However, nothing could be further from the truth. MOL and his acolytes miss no opportunity to tell anyone who will listen how much free cash it has in the bank (over £2 billion), that there is no possibility that it will fail, that people should not book with other airlines which might fail and that Ryanair will still be there when all other airlines have failed. No, the purpose of this cheap trick is not to protect your job but to soften you up to accept winter layoff as the norm in future years and eventually " sorry, no work for you today, come back tomorrow we might have some for you then". Make no mistake about it this was the way business was done in many industries before the advent of unions and is the standard to which the likes of MOL would like to return. It is a pity to see such naiveity in one so experienced as your good self. Don't believe everything they tell you and don't accept everything they do to you as your due. This industry was not always as harsh as you say. It got like this due to the attitude of certain employers aided by the docility of some of their employees. It doesn't have to keep getting worse but it will if the prevalent attitude of grateful acceptance of mistreatment continues to prevail.