Ryanair avoids Christmas strike by bowing to pilot demands over unions
Pilots in Ireland and Germany had both voted to take industrial action over the holiday season in disputes over pay and conditions
RYANAIR is reversing its longstanding refusal to recognise pilots' unions in a bid to avert strikes over the busy Christmas season.
It will recognise pilot unions for the first time in its 32-year history.
Chief executive Michael O'Leary says the airline wants to ease customers' concerns "that they may be disrupted by pilot industrial action next week."
Ryanair pilots in Ireland and Germany have both voted to take industrial action over the holiday season in disputes over pay and conditions.
Italian and Portuguese pilot unions have also threatened strikes in the coming days.
The airline said earlier this week that it would not deal with or recognise the unions.
But O'Leary said Friday that if the best way to avoid strikes "is to talk to our pilots through a recognized union process, then we are prepared to do so."
His refusal to recognise unions was at the heart of the ultra low-cost model he developed, to turn a small Irish regional airline into Europe's largest carrier by passenger numbers.
He said in a statement: "Recognising unions will be a significant change for Ryanair, but we have delivered radical change before.
"We hope and expect that these structures can and will be agreed with our pilots early in the New Year."
The Irish carrier said it would hold talks with unions in Ireland, Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal to recognise them.
But only if they established a committee made up solely of Ryanair pilots, "as Ryanair will not engage with pilots who fly for competitor airlines in Ireland or elsewhere."
Pilots and ground crew in Italy were due to take action first with a four-hour strike later on Friday, to be followed by a 24-hour stoppage by pilots in Ireland and Portugal on December 20.
MOST READ IN TRAVEL
The pilots have mobilised in the wake of the announcement of 20,000 flight cancellations by the Irish carrier, which it blamed on a lack of standby pilots due to a failure in its rostering following a rule change by Irish regulators.
Ryanair had brought back Peter Bellew, previously the CEO of Malaysia Airlines and Ryanair's former director of flight operations, to help deal with the staffing issue.
The airline's Chief People Officer Eddie Wilson said there was no reason to think costs would increase as a result.