"Mr. O'Leary said the airline had 'some goodies' to propose to pilots, but added: 'If pilots misbehave, that will be the end of the goodies." - BBC, 21/09/17

As someone who has been a union member for 28 years, I urge you Ryanair pilots to misbehave, if not for yourself, then for the generations behind you. You have a unique moment to teach this condescending jerk that he cannot get away with treating his passengers and staff with such contempt.

The VERY best of luck to you all.... The whole industry supports you, and has a keen interest in finally turning the corner of constant cuts to our terms and conditions. Keep up the good work!

Y es. You are right. You start your career with a debt. Why make that debt bigger by getting a mortgage? The whining bit about the mortgage annoyed me. I am fully aware of all the mousetraps ahead of you once you start a flying career.I can remember a KLM pilot who in the sixties rented a house. After a couple of years of flying and not drinking or :mad: around he ow ned a house. Payed off and his alone. Had a :mad: seniority too.todays pilotes are for the biggest part spoilt snowflakes .Period.

https://twitter.com/DMcCaffreySKY/st...02221738151936

Now where did I put that cv...

@PA28161

By that token, would you say the job of a doctor is difficult? Once you have trained and are practised in medicine perhaps the concept of difficulty becomes moot. I.e. I would find it difficult but you wouldn't.

I'm asking this in trying to get to grips with Ryanair boss's comment today:

“Once you are trained and skilled at doing it ... I would challenge any pilot to explain how this is a difficult job or how it is they are overworked or how anybody who by law can’t fly more than 18 hours a week could possibly be suffering from fatigue.”

Sounds like the crew smell blood in the water. Time to take a big bite!


P.S. It sounds like MOL (incredibly) is reaching for the stick again. I suspect the only way he survives is by dishing out carrots; lots of them and not necessarily those which he would like to dish out.

I wonder if he is in denial.

the chief Ryanair spokesman is quoted as saying 'we do not operate zero hour contracts'.

I wonder how he defines 'zero hour contract'. No fly = no pay and no paid holidays. It walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, smells like a duck............
There was a judge who previously, in a case against RYR, labelled the defendants as "not credible witnesses." This quote sounds similar.

Back to the shortage question. It takes 2 months for a TR course. It then takes another couple of weeks for base training and then another 2-3 months to complete Line Training, if there are enough LTC's, and that's debatable no doubt. The recruitment process takes a few weeks. So, for any cadet wanting to be on line as a released line pilot (and remember there is probably a safety pilot also for the first couple of weeks) the whole process could take 6-8 months. April 2018, i.e. the summer program, is 6 months away. Assuming there are more airframes arriving before then the training demand for F/O's & new captains could well be greater than the training dept can supply. It is possible to calculate that now, well in advance. It is also known how many pilots & cabin crew have handed in their notice or retired, and it can be estimated how any will leave within the next 12 months to the end of summer 2018.
From the outside this does not seem a 6 week problem. Plus, flying during leave might not solve the hours and FTL's issue. And the amount offered, net after tax, is derisory when set against the amount that could be saved for the company. But, IMHO, this is a problem that will extend far into the future. There are not enough trees to shake with enough desperate monkeys in them.

The T's & C's that need to change would I'd have thought include: proper employee contracts; proper paid leave system; proper salary not hi% in flight pay; proper pension scheme base on 50-66% premiums of actual income; proper basing scheme where people want to live & work; proper out of base rosters all duty time with travel & costs paid; no self-funding of mandatory simulator sessions; travel & hotel costs paid during those sim sessions; travel & hotel costs paid during command upgrade courses; etc. etc. OMG that sounds like most of the other airlines. IMHO that is too much to happen, but it is what the competition offers. For one who lives by markets forces you can also be hurt badly by market forces. MF's affect workers as much as customers.

MOL has now issued defamation proceedings against The Guardian and Irish pilots union IALPA.


Mr O'Leary told Ryanair's annual meeting in Dublin that it did not have sufficient spare pilots for September, October and November to ensure smooth operations and was considering forcing some pilots to change their annual leave plans. He has finally admitted their are pilot shortages is Dublin, Frankfurt and Berlin.

MOL will re-group, weather the storm and come back fighting!
He has lots of dirty tricks in his arsenal and not afraid to use them.
It's about as bad as it's ever been BUT with board backing, piles of cash, he'll squash any union!

So you really think next year's Brexit implications for airlines out of the UK was a bluff?

BBC: Mr O'Leary said the airline had "some goodies" to propose to pilots, but added: "If pilots misbehave, that will be the end of the goodies."

This may sound like repetition, but in view of the CRETINOUS comments that spew out of O'Leary's mouth, I thought it should be repeated.

He really does believe his pilots are spoiled 5-year olds!

Guardian link
 

Guardian journalist
 

Hi all

I'm covering developments with Ryanair for The Guardian. I'm keen to speak to pilots regarding MOL's response to the concerns expressed by some of you.

In addition, I'm particularly interested in employment conditions and the agency/contract model.

I've been told that some pilots are facing HMRC probes as a result of an employment arrangement they were not keen on to begin with.

Feel free to answer this post or contact me on rob dot davies at guardian co uk

Thanks

What a greedy obnoxious impression that man gives . . .

All these reports of bullying and intimidatory management are unlikely to be wrong IMHO.

Reminds me of someone who ran a freight company in France, then Belgium . . .

I am an Irish journalist working for the national broadcaster, RTÉ.

I would like to speak, in confidence and off record, to any current or former Ryan Air pilots on this forum.

Please don't post here if you want to speak to me.

You can mail me - [email protected]

I also use two secure, end to end encrypted messaging apps

Threema where my ID is FYE3T6UM

Or on Signal where my number is 0878262587

All communication will be treated sensitively and discretely.

I'm retired (thankfully) but when I hear MOL spouting untruths such as pilots only doing 18 hours a week it makes me have to work on my anger management.

Hi, keen to speak to pilots for The Guardian. Have a few issues i want to discuss with some of you, if you're willing. Can be anonymous.

But MOL talks 168 hours a week so he is worth far more . . .

I'm retired (thankfully) but when I hear MOL spouting untruths such as pilots only doing 18 hours a week it makes me have to work on my anger management.

Sadly there always seem to be the wrong journalists in the wrong place at the wrong time. I watched a press conference in Sweden; I watched BBC Hardtalk: I watched a presentation in Brussels by todays modern revolutionary CEO's. Some tried to tie MOL down and they were so badly informed or briefed, or just lacking in knowledge of the subject they were listening to, their banal questions had the sting of a marshmallow. Even Hardtack focused on trying to embarrass MOL with some trivial pax encounters. It was a one-sided rout. It seems they are not there to ask searching questions, but just report what is spouted out. A few pilots asking the questions would have been more to the point. The TV program, with anonymous pilots, that attempted to portray RYR as a fundamentally unsafe airline due to fuel policy was doomed to failure.
There are enough subjects on which to focus to bring out the underlying truth without trying to be sensational. I wonder if IALPA has woken up to what is going on and they are wondering why it has taken natural forces to achieve what it could not, even with all its supposed expertise.

"A pilot's job isn't difficult."
"How does a pilot suffer from fatigue?"
"Pilot's only work 18 hours a week."

All quotes from MOL at today's AGM. Same rhetoric that he has used for years with regards to pilot's working hours and job entailment. It's pretty obvious the PR stance that FR are set to take on this one.