Ryanairdontcarecrew

22 Nov 2017

RYANAIR PILOTS European Employee Representative Council EERC LETTER TO RYANAIR CHIEF DAVID BONDERMAN.

European Employee Representative Council council@eerconline.com Mr David Bonderman Ryanair Head Office Airside Business Park Swords Co Dublin 21st November 2017 Dear Mr Bonderman, In September 2017 Ryanair announced the cancellation of an extraordinary number of flights. This had a particularly negative impact on our staff and customers. The CEO took full responsibility for these problems, and some days later the COO resigned. This unleashed a series of events that have had a profound impact on the pilot body. The most significant of these events was the public disparagement of pilots by the company management and the insincere attempt to apologise for a wrong that should never have happened. The pilot body is the principle group of employees who can do most to assist the company in recovering from the fundamental errors that have been made by an out-of-touch management. We have made numerous attempts to constructively engage the company management to address the many underlying problems that are at the root of the cancellations crisis. Copies of our correspondence are attached for your information. We still await a reply to all of them. While denying receipt of these letters, management saw fit to continue to publicly denigrate us. It is unclear to us, and we can only assume it is equally unclear to the board, how this approach is going to help resolve our current crisis, or prevent similar crises in the future. We are concerned that management’s belief that all will be well after December could be dispelled when the full extent of pilot resignations becomes apparent with Spring 2018 recruitment in other airlines. Pilots work at the front line of Ryanair operations, filling the gaps in rosters and operations, and keeping the show on the road. We can say with authority that the underlying causes of the cancellation crisis are long standing, deep rooted and have been evident to pilots for many years. European Employee Representative Council The sudden onset of the current crisis, coupled with the misplaced attempts to solve it, simply confirm how out of touch management has become. Due to management’s repeated failure to meaningfully engage with pilots to solve these problems, we have no option but to raise our concerns directly with the Ryanair board. Management want to continue to dictate to pilots how we should represent ourselves. We have made clear that we will decide for ourselves how we wish to be represented. The major problems exist at two main levels – the over-arching terms that govern every pilots’ contract, and the legality of those contracts in the countries in which we are based. For that reason, we will engage with the company at a whole company level through our European Employee Representative Council (EERC) to establish a consistent and simple framework within which all pilots will be treated equitably. We will use national level representative groups to address the complexities of income tax, social insurance and employment law in the different countries in which we live and work. The management approach that got us into our current difficulties will not get us out of them. A different approach is urgently required. If the underlying issues are not addressed, pilots will continue to leave in increasing numbers, and fewer pilots will join to replace them. The company’s problems can only be addressed through constructive and meaningful dialogue. The pilot body is ready and willing to play a constructive part in such discussions. We have no wish to see these difficulties escalate to a level that could bring considerably more disruption to our passengers. Our aim is to stabilise the integrity of the flight schedules for our passengers by stabilising the employment conditions for our pilots. We respectfully request that you acknowledge receipt of this letter. We also request that you provide guidance to company management on how to constructively engage with us to resolve the many problems that lie at the root of the cancellations crisis. We can be contacted through our email address council@eerconline.com and look forward to your prompt reply. Yours Respectfully Captain Terry O’Connor On behalf of the EERC