Ryanair pilots raise safety concerns in TV documentary
Serving Ryanair pilots will reveal concerns over the budget carrier’s fuel policy and pilot working conditions in a TV documentary being aired tonight on Channel 4.
The Ryanair Pilot Group, which the airline’s management refuses to recognise, claims a recent survey of its members found concerns about the budget carrier’s safety culture and that they support an inquiry by regulators.
Ryanair has declined to comment on the survey but said it had an "unblemished 29-year safety record".
The Ryanair Pilot Group’s Facebook page was shut down two weeks ago and its Twitter account was removed last week with no explanation, but the closures coincide with the airline’s attempt to secure all social media pages using the Ryanair name.
The Dispatches programme, Ryanair: Secrets from the Cockpit will be screened tonight at 20:00.
It is not the first time the airline has been a subject of the Channel 4 documentary series. A programme in 2006 featured pilots and cabin crew complaining about the number of hours they have to fly and claimed to highlight "inadequate safety and security checks".
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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