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EPA
Ryanair is closing its base at Frankfurt Hahn airport after German pilots voted to reject the pay cuts.
The firm said in a memo to the pilots that its bases at Berlin Tegel and Dusseldorf airports were also at risk of closing by the end of the summer.
Airlines have been struggling due to global travel restrictions designed to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Ryanair pilots and cabin crew in the UK recently voted to accept pay cuts to reduce job losses.
“We must go ahead with alternative measures to generate savings, which unfortunately will mean closings and layoffs of bases,” Ryanair said in a memo to its German pilots.
- Ryanair cabin crew agree to temporary pay cut to keep jobs
Ryanair announced in May that it would cut 3,000 jobs across Europe.
However, earlier this month, the company revealed that it had reached an agreement with the Unite union to protect the jobs of the UK cabin crew.
Ryanair has not yet specified how many jobs will be affected by the changes in Germany.
‘Strange’
The German airline union Vereinigung Cockpit said that “less than half of the pilots were in favor of accepting” the wage agreement.
“We believe that the agreement could harm the entire pilot community in Germany,” he said.
Ryanair said the proposed cuts are based on current programming plans, and insisted that they could worsen “considerably” if there is a resurgence of the coronavirus.
“We made it clear during the negotiations that if the vote was not successful, then the next step would have to be dismissal,” he said.
“It is strange that the union polled against the agreement, knowing full well that the result would be the closure of bases and the loss of jobs.”
