Ryanair warns of job cuts in Ireland due to uncertainty over winter flights



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Ryanair could have to cut more jobs here in the coming months if it moves its capacity out of Ireland for the winter, warned its chief executive, Eddie Wilson.

He said the airline is currently ending its winter schedule, but with countries like Germany and the UK not yet on the government’s so-called ‘Green List’ of safe travel destinations, the network in and out of Ireland could be further reduced. than expected. this winter.

“My concern would be that if the cuts get that bad, we may have to review those deals in terms of layoffs because there just won’t be any work to get out there,” Wilson told the Irish Independent. “We don’t want to be doing that.”

Ryanair employs more than 400 pilots in Ireland, and roughly double that number of cabin crew. It has about 30 aircraft based in Dublin, two in Cork and a couple in Shannon. Last month, it said it was cutting overall capacity by 20% for September and October due to weaker reserves.

Wilson declined to predict what the airline’s schedule will be like this winter, saying it would be clearer in a couple of weeks. The Fórsa union declined to comment.

Ryanair has been a constant critic of the government’s ‘Green List’ of countries where it says people can complete a return trip without having to self-quarantine when they return to Ireland.

Wilson insisted that there is “no scientific basis” for excluding places like the UK. Yesterday Ryanair launched a 48-hour sale offering one million seats at € 5, or £ 5 in the UK. “You can set whatever price you want, but you won’t get people to come to Ireland from Germany for a 14-day quarantine,” Wilson said. “They couldn’t be paid to come.”

However, he said the seat sales were doing “exceptionally well.”

“It’s driving volumes, but the prediction models that any airline has right now is that we’re relearning what the reserves curve looks like,” Wilson said. “People tend to book much closer because of the uncertainty.”

He also said that it is not unreasonable to assume that Ryanair will have most of the Boeing Max jets that have already been built for it into service next summer, assuming the plane will be recertified for use in Europe early next year.

Boeing has already built about 28 of the Max jets for Ryanair, Wilson said.

Irish independent

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