In the wake of the autumn cancellations fiasco, Ryanair Holdings Plc (LON:RYA) has decided to allow unions at the no-frills airline in order to avoid a pre-Christmas strike.
The move, to open the door to pilot unions in five countries (Ireland, the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal), represents a major and somewhat unlikely u-turn for the airline. It comes with a caveat though, as Ryanair will insist that it has its own committees of Ryanair pilots to deal with any Ryanair issues.
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Ryanair shares were down 1.4% on Friday morning, changing hands at 16.17p.
"Christmas flights are very important to our customers and we wish to remove any worry or concern that they may be disrupted by pilot industrial action next week,” said Michael O'Leary, Ryanair chief executive.
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“If the best way to achieve this is to talk to our pilots through a recognised union process, then we are prepared to do so, and we have written today to these unions inviting them to talks to recognise them and calling on them to cancel the threatened industrial action planned for Christmas week.”
Strikes were planned for Wednesday, December 20.