BALPA accuses Ryanair of jumping gun over deal with UK pilots
Ryanair’s relationship with its UK-based pilots were further strained this week after the union BALPA refuted the airline’s claim that the two parties had reached a deal to solve a long-running dispute.
In a statement, the airline said it had signed an agreement with BALPA covering seniority and base transfers for all directly employed UK-based pilots.
However, BALPA said the airline had jumped the gun as the joint proposal has not yet been voted on by its members.
General secretary Brian Sutton said: "BALPA has not reached agreement with Ryanair on seniority and base transfers.
"We have a joint proposal that will go to consultation with members, until the members vote there is no agreement. This is standard trade union procedure.
"What’s happened I think is that Ryanair has got itself a little bit over-excited at the thought of a potential agreement. They should calm down until we’ve put the proposal to the members to vote, which we will do over the next few weeks."
Ryanair also claimed it had signed a similar deal with the Portuguese pilots’ union and pilots in Italy, and that it was close to an agreement with pilots in Spain.
Cabin crew across Europe are also pushing the airline to review their contracts and unions in Belgium claimed this week that there would be more strikes before the end of the year unless Ryanair agrees to their demands.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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