Controversial or not, the Ryanair and Norwegian staffing arrangements seem to give the carriers a competitive boost. In a presentation to investors in November, Ryanair said its unit labor cost was only 6 euros per available seat-mile, compared with 19 euros at U.S.-based discounter Spirit Airlines and 35 euros at Southwest Airlines.
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The Creative Pilot Hiring Habits of Ryanair and Norwegian Air Shuttle ? Skift
To my mind the practices of both Ryanair and Norwegian are disgraceful. The pilots get no choice in this but given the amount of publicity the likes of Starbucks and Amazon have got as a consequence of deliberate tax avoidance I am shocked that Ryanair at least does not attract the same.