Re Ranges Bloomberg article. I must say the arrogance of Mr Barry Norris’s comments is rather astonishing. In what way are the Ryanair pilots massively overplaying their hand? It seems to me that 400,000 unhappy passengers as a result of a little boo boo associated with a tad of a hiccup with pilot leave, might just lend a touch of weight to the slim possibility that just maybe, pilots are quite useful to an airline, dare I say it, even crucial.
The argument that love or loathe, Ryanair and by association O’Leary have been a successful model, is not deniable. Indeed, there is no reason to say that this success should not continue. But to effectively say by implication that pilots are overplaying the influence that they have on that success indicates to me a level of arrogance because I doubt very much that in his position it is naivety. If you accept the premis that pilots do have an influence on any success, it follows that they have an equal influence over failure. If it is true that shareholders would rather see flights grounded for 6 months than a unionised workforce, it also indicates a level of ignorance as to how successful unionisation can and I reiterate CAN be. I will be honest, I was wary of joining BALPA and indeed there are still huge flaws, but it at least made my company look at itself. Of course we can discuss many other issues of the other benefits and equal forms of cover, but this isn’t my point. It is more that a unionised airline can still be successful and beneficial to all.
My final point and I’m aware I’m starting to ramble, is that the pilots thus far have shown incredible restraint and in fact I’m sure the general populous would be astonished to hear the pay rises that are being turned down. Those that do know are likely saying that pilots must be massively overpaid already then. The point they would be missing is that this isn’t all about money. Going back to my company, a few years back it was not a happy ship. Pilots were leaving at a high rate and those that remained were constantly fearful. This isn’t about my company though so I won’t go into the ins and outs, but suffice to say, with BALPA in place although generally in the background, things changed very rapidly. Yes, we did get a generous pay rise, but far from industry leading, and yes, we did get a couple of perks thrown in, but nothing to shout about, but the main thing was the cultural shift. We felt less and less, day by day that we had to fear the management, that sim sessions would be fair, promotions genuinely on merit and a feeling we could report genuine errors openly and we would be dealt with justly. This was more about the right people in the right job than anything. The result of this is that although we know (if you believe the offer) that we could make significantly more money moving to Ryanair, I know of nobody considering such a thing. We are recruiting easily and retaining more than we ever have. This is quite a statement knowing what is on offer out there now in the industry.
To sum it up, the pilots are far from being greedy and are seeking fairness, security and stability as their priority beyond money. This has been clearly demonstrated by the lack of uptake of the offer on the table. Essentially, I believe their hand is as strong as they chose to make it, in fact, no significant hands have been played yet. I think the players have only just been dealt their cards. We will see just how strong the pilots hands are in due course. I’m certainly looking forward to the river card.