Ryanair has issue notices of redundancy to seven Dublin-based pilots who it says have refused retraining on its new fleet of Boeing 737-800s
In a statement issued today, Ryanair, said 11 different offers had been made to the pilots over the last 10 months.
Nine older Boeing 737-200 series aircraft will be taken out of use between September and November next and the redundancies will take place on November 30th, the Ryanair statement said.
The pilots are refusing to retrain to fly the new fleet because they object to the conditions on which the airline is offering training.
Ryanair wants them to return the €15,000 cost of the programme if they leave within five years, or if the company is forced to negotiate with any pilots' trade union during that period. It also wants Irish pilots to drop court cases they have taken against the company.
"If pilots continually refuse to be trained on 737-800 series aircraft, then there will be no position for them on Ryanair's payroll, when in November they are not qualified to operate Ryanair's new aircraft," the statement said.
"In these circumstances it is they who will have made themselves redundant by their refusal to accept any one of the 11 offers of retraining."
Ryanair said the pilots had "one final and 12th opportunity" to accept retraining.
