I have to agree with squawk-7600 on this one. This is by far the most factual incorrect official statement to come out of an airline in many years. Block hours is confused with duty hours as duty hours for most airlines is maxed at 55 hours a week. I think someone from the
PR-office will be looking for different employment soon.
1. Since Ryanair pilots can only fly a max of 900 hours per year (an average of just 18 hours per week, compared to most peoples' 40 hours per week), any Ryanair pilots (regardless of whether they are direct employees or contractors) that miss a flight due to illness can easily replace those flights before the end of the year and so no pilots lose any pay for being "unfit to fly". Ryanair also requires pilots to declare if they feel unfit to fly in which case they will be replaced by other standby pilots and such certifications happen routinely.