Internal memo offers tax-free bonus to staff not to take time off after ‘rota mess-up’ led to hundreds of cancelled flights

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Ryanair has offered pilots a one-off bonus of up to £12,000 to forfeit holidays, according to a memo seen by the Guardian, as it battles to prevent further flight cancellations caused by a “mess-up” in its rota system.

The Irish airline’s chief executive, Michael O’Leary, apologised this week after saying that up to 50 flights a day would be cancelled until 31 October, affecting about 400,000 passengers.

Ryanair is now facing fury from customers who fear they will be left out of pocket and has also been warned by the Civil Aviation Authority that it could face penalties for refusing to reroute passengers with rival airlines.

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It is also fending off allegations from the Irish pilots’ union that it is making European regulations a scapegoat, rather than acknowledging its own failure to allocate enough pilots for its schedule.

Ryanair could face further disruption from industrial action amid reports that pilots were meeting in Dublin and across Europe to discuss the possibility of going on strike.



Internal emails seen by the Guardian show that the no-frills airline is scrambling to appease pilots and first officers by offering tax-free bonuses not to take time off.

“To avoid further cancellations, we are requesting between one and two blocks of five days from every pilot who has already been assigned their month off,” Ryanair’s chief operations officer, Michael Hickey, told pilots.

“In recognition of the impact on you of the need to fly additional days I am implementing the following bonus scheme. All current pilots [...] who remain operating Ryanair aircraft between Sept and 31st October 2018 will receive a once-off €12,000/£12,000 gross bonus for captains and €6,000/£6,000 for first officers in November 2018.”

Pilots will not receive the one-off bonus until November next year, an inducement to stay with the company amid reports that many are defecting to Norwegian, which said it had hired 140 pilots from the Irish airline since the start of the year.

Ryanair does not disclose salaries, but captains and first officers were offered basic wages of €62,500 and €21,000 respectively in 2015, according to a report in the Irish Times.

Pilots and first officers will get the bonus provided they have flown more than 800 hours for Ryanair in the year to 31 October 2018, and complete at least 10 days off during the period, including a block of five days in a row.

Ryanair says the problem will last six weeks. This conveniently brings it to the winter schedule's reduced crewing needs Irish Air Line Pilots' Association

Ryanair said it would also increase the overnight payments that pilots get for working away from their base airport, while staff would also be entitled to normal rates for working days off.

Passengers told the Guardian of poor communication from Ryanair that has forced them to miss family events and has left them in fear of financial hardship if they cannot recoup costs such as hotel rooms and replacement flights.



Christa, from Brighton, was waiting at Budapest airport for her flight home on Tuesday, a day after she was due to return to the UK.

“I received a text message from Ryanair on Friday 15 September about Monday’s flight,” she said. “I phoned them twice and received poor customer service. The staff member was not apologetic for what happened and gave me no reason for the cancellation.”

Ryanair has also cancelled flights to Lisbon, leading to anxiety among Manchester United fans who have already bought tickets for their team’s Champions League tie with Benfica on 18 October.

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Leslie Lee, a TV producer living in London, was told by text on the morning of her flight that it had been cancelled, and said she was hundreds of pounds out of pocket after booking an alternative flight with British Airways.

“Even though I’ve been offered a partial refund for the unused flight, which cost £70, the cancellation has set me back about £500 and I’m worried that Ryanair won’t compensate me,” she said.

O’Leary said on Monday that Ryanair would not “pay for flights on our competitors”, despite EU regulations that it must offer the option if a rival’s flight leaves “significantly sooner” than its own.

A spokesperson for the CAA said: ““Ryanair is well aware of these passenger rights and we have sought assurances from the airline on how and when they will provide alternative flights with other airlines.”

The spokesperson added that Ryanair would face “enforcement action” if it does not comply.

Ryanair has blamed the cancellations on a change in the way Irish airlines interpret European regulations that limit pilots’ flying hours to 900 per calendar year for safety reasons.

Airlines regulated by the Irish Aviation Authority have until this year been alone in interpreting the calendar year as running from April to March. This gave the likes of Ryanair an advantage over continental rivals, because it could schedule more flights during the busy summer months, benching pilots in quieter periods.

The Irish pilots’ union (IALPA) said Ryanair could not blame the change because “they had at least two seasons’ notice of the new regulations in which to put their house in order.

IALPA added: “A separate point of note is Ryanair saying that the problem will last for about six weeks. This conveniently brings them to the winter schedule with its reduced overall crewing requirement, which is further evidence of the real problem being a shortage of flight crew.”

The union says more than 700 pilots have left Ryanair this year.

Asked about its memo to staff Ryanair, which employs 4,200 pilots, said it did not comment on “rumour or speculation”.