Maybe a limited work conflict would have been better for Ryanair than a pure schedule shrink:
They don't have to worry about investors because they are not looking for more money in the markets.
They wouldn't have to pay striking staff and their pilots would be flush with hours affterwards. They could temporary suspend other unneeded staff, without pay.
Striking group wouldn't have been oragnised for long so wouldn't have built up funds for a long conflict.
FR could whrink their schedule and would just need to give affected passengers their money back but wouldn't have to reroute them, put them on other modes of transport or compensate them.
It would shift the public's blame to the striking group and sympathy to the company.
In the end the conflict would be solved with a lesser increase in payment to the pilots than what they got, or a reorganisation in direction of less contracting, more social protection and even less in the hand.