Interesting times for Ryanair.

Somehow I don't think a threat to cut pay and bonuses is going to work...

It worked for them in the past, and maybe they assume it will still

Problem is, this is 2017 and the employee commands more respect. Unless there are masses of pilots ready and waiting to pick up the slack on the lower pay/bonus, then the incumbents have the upper hand and Ryanair will eventually have to give way (kicking and screaming all the way)

"Haven't had a strike before", there's a first time for everything, and maybe it's long overdue

"Problem is, this is 2017 and the employee commands more respect."


The idea of power in the hands of the workforce died in 1979.

If FR pilots take this action, they'd better be prepared for the long game and they'd better be all in this together. Anything less will result in the man dismissing pilots for breach of contract. After all, there's a recruitment drive going on. And those new people need a demonstration of what will happen if they step out of line.

Strike action could cause a lot of short term pain for FR. But, investors and the board will back MOL all the way.

Investors will back them until it starts to affect share price/dividends. Then they will turn like a pack of wolves. Dangerous game for MOL and the board and I made a comment a while back that the future of Ryanair was dependent on how they managed this crisis. Evidence is not very well and they are learning little. That in itself is dangerous. You can go from being a very strong player to a weak position very quickly and there were much bigger companies than Ryanair that no longer exist.

Correct. No CEO is bigger than the company they run, and while MOL’s contribution to Ryanair’s success is unquestionable, if it’s judged that he can no longer take the company forward then his previous track record will count for little. Especially if his specific personality traits and methods are seen to be part of the problem rather than the solution.

True Blue.
mmmmmmmm...
I sense an agenda....Anyhows if in the last line the reference to "much bigger companies" contains airlines (presumably not)...name one.
It would be clearer if you could add context anyway as to why these perceived companies failed "very quickly" or just failed.
For an agenda valid criteria is very helpful...hyperbole remains thus.

Sorry to disappoint you but I have no agenda of any kind. Not good to assume.

OK thanks for clarification around "agenda" at least.....
Peoples assumptions are rightly made at least here by what they read perhaps.
Not disappointed at all.

Yes, but ... one of the largest costs in a business is salaries. Increase that item and you reduce profits. Once you have increased them then that higher cost is baked in for years to come.

Higher long term operating costs may permanently reduce share price and dividends. Short term industrial disruption may possibly only impact on one financial year.

Investors can have long term as well as short term time horizons. Some short term pain to maintain a longer term goals may be acceptable.

Sadly that was the point I was trying to make they don't have a long term view. It's all short term. I know because I see it every day.

It's very expensive if you have to keep recruiting new staff to replace those whom you have p****d off so much that they have left.
The more MOL rails against ever recognising a TU, the more one is necessary.

And it can be very expensive if one loses their job with one of only perhaps two jet airlines in their home domicile and they need to relocate to another country to work, buy/sell real estate or live a life away from home, buggesation factor, missing the wife and kids, accommodation and commuting expenses etc.

I'm no fan of MOL or Ryanair, indeed sales of popcorn should go thru the roof with this one, I'll be watching with interest but I'm not the one putting his job on the line for the audience to enjoy munching their popcorn!

The people at Monarch had a much nicer outfit to work for, but look where they are.. Careful what they wish for.

Now being reported in a landmark decision MOL has written to pilots stating RYR are prepared to recognise pilot unions.

You beat me to it!

Ryanair moves towards recognise pilot unions - BBC News

Ah only by 9 minutes :))
Monitoring popcorn & softdrink shares now as impetus possibly removed for strong sales forecast by previous posters...

Talk can be cheap!

If we think of Ryanair as a cancer within the body of aviation in Europe then this small step takes us into the GPs surgery. It will be a long time before the patient is given the all clear as the cancer will certainly resist treatment.

Good luck to the Ryanair pilots. They'll need it.

Actually previous posters forecasting RYR talking to it`s pilots & meeting some of their requirements would cost RYR dear!

Bernoulli. What a stupid, idiotic remark to describe Ryanair as a ‘cancer’. As well as providing safe, affordable low fares to 10’s of millions of passengers across Europe, Ryanair has created thousands of well paid, secure jobs, not least for pilots. They’re not perfect but please don’t wish them dead, we’d all be poorer without them

They’ll only deal with separate councils of Ryanair pilots within trade unions and permanent trade union negotiators, ie not officials from other airlines. Which sounds fair enough....

But will the contractors be covered?

You're right, they're not a cancer, they are the pits and the pilots there, with their well paid and secure jobs, are so happy it wouldn't even dawn on them to consider strike action.

I think it`s accepted then that Siargao Islands are not included in the vast RYR network:))

Even the national airline here have needed to re-acquire some Q300's because their Q400's can't get in/out here ... The distance I had to travel to escape the Irish cancer ... I feel safe from them here!

Ahhh splendid isolation...
Queuing up to use them everywhere else tho....:)

Probably you and a million others who like a plasticised environment, herded as if you were cattle, seat backs that don't recline, stale sandwiches, warm beer and so tight or poor you want to pay nigh on bugger all for a ticket because you can't afford to pay to fly with a legacy carrier.

I'm from an era when passengers were regarded as customners rather than victims ... LOL.

Harry Wayfarers..hehe..
Yup spot on of course,why would I think you could believe & think otherwise...
But anyway (conversation?) over... food bank calling & soup kitchen for supper later =
Luvly Jubbly :)

Waiting for a comment from Racedo regarding the recognition of those awful unions. Well done everybody, just goes to show what you can achieve when you stick together.

So I am not the only one that thinks that MOL is saying what he needs to say to keep the airline flying and will do a 180 in January when all has slowed down again?

I'm sure the Fanboys will just re-interpret this as another triumph for Ryanair........

Nope...I`m sure everyone would actually regard it as a triumph for the travelling public over the holiday period...

Somehow I'm not completely convinced that MOL did this as a magnanimous gesture just to save Christmas......

You & I both...but we are all pawns in the great game of commerciality generally as consumers...

Whatever happens it's been dragging on 4 months now, they need to sort it and if it continues confidence will be damaged even more when people plan to book summer holidays. Slowing they are realizing, it's time to deal with it before it gets out of complete control, this way FR can have more influence than after a strike has taken place because once one takes place the flood gates will open.

Even the Grinch came around in the end.

Seriously, this announcement will split opinion amongst pilots. Exactly as intended.

heard on Irish radio station today

Ryanair to announce some flights from Liege shortly.

Mmmm ... LGG is on the same motorway as CRL with the north/south Luxembourg/Brussels motorway dividing the two ... I guess RYR know what they're doing, they also have a route out of MST which is a stone's throw away from LGG ... I guess they'll need some pilots though to operate these routes!

LGG is already a well used airport. MST is very quiet. That has always been a mystery. A few charter airlines have tried to utilise MST even easy jet have tried regular flights. The local tax-payers spend fortunes on what must be a huge loss making under-used airport. There is a strong anti-noise lobby. Geographically it's in a good place. 30 years ago there were night freight operations and slowly they we're all bumped out to LGG. There was a KLM subsidiary flying F50's on schedule ops, but went bust. There are cross-border pax, with Belgium & Germany increasing Dutch. Eindhoven seems to have struggled its way out of the grip of the noise huggers, but MST still has to succeed in that. It plugs a gap between NRN, DUS, CRL, BRS, EIN. If it's not necessary then close it, but stop it haemorrhaging money.

Interestingly journey time from Brussels to Liege airport and Charleroi airport is pretty much the same (1 hour).

It may not be long until Ryanair starts playing off the two airports against each other.