Airlines German Ryanair pilots call 24-hour strike

The Vereinigung Cockpit, an association of cockpit personnel in Germany, has announced it will call up its Ryanair members for industrial action on Friday for 24 hours. The strike measure will last from 03:01 am on Friday, August 10, 2018 until 02:59 am on Saturday, August 11, 2018. All permanent pilots employed at Ryanair stations in Germany are called to strike. Affected will be all flights, scheduled to depart from German airports during this time.

Ryanair operates flights from bases at 19 airports in Germany. Beside the larger airports like Frankfurt/Main, Düsseldorf, Munich and Hamburg, Ryanair has based aircraft at smaller airports like Dortmund, Bremen, Memmingen and Münster-Osnabrück.

"We demand improvements in pay and working conditions," says Martin Locher, president of VC. "Improvements are inconceivable without an increase in personnel cockpit costs. During negotiations Ryanair categorically ruled out any such increases. At the same time, Ryanair has not shown any interest to find solutions. It is only Ryanair, which is responsible for the escalation which has now taken place, "adds Martin Locher.

Simultaneously to the industrial action in Germany, Ryanair pilots in Belgium, Ireland and Sweden will also go on strike on Friday.

The strike will be the largest in Ryanair’s history. Aviation media expects up to 25.000 passengers might be affected by the strike in the major holiday season. Ryanair has announced to cancel 250 of its 2400 scheduled flights for Friday.

Two weeks ago, Ryanair’s cabin staff striked for two days in Spain, Portugal and Belgium, which forced Ryanair to cancel over 600 flights.