Ryanair has confirmed it will cancel 16 flights on Tuesday, as its Irish pilots continue a series of one-day strikes.
Members of the Irish Airline Pilots' Association – part of the Fórsa union – picketed the airline's headquarters last Friday on the second day of their action in a dispute over issues related to base transfers, promotion, annual leave and other conditions tied to seniority.
In a statement on its website on Sunday night, Ryanair said that since Fórsa had “again failed to answer our call to cancel the third strike by a small minority (25 per cent) of our Irish pilots”, scheduled for Tuesday, July 24th, it had “regrettably” cancelled 16 (5 per cent) of its more than 290 Irish flights on that date. Only some Ireland-Britain flights are affected.
“All 2,500 affected Irish customers have already been notified by email/SMS and will be readily reaccommodated (or refunded) on other Ryanair flights between IRE-UK routes over the next seven days,” the company said.
“It is disgraceful that Fórsa sits on its hands for over two days – without any communication since Wednesday – while thousands of Irish customers and their families have their holiday plans disrupted.”
The union has previously said the airline must respond positively to “11 minimum requirements” before it will call off the strikes.