Germany: Ryanair pilots plan four-hour strike December 22

Event

Ryanair pilots are planning to hold a four-hour strike at all German airports on Friday, December 22. The strike has been organized by Germany's Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) union, and is planned to take place from 05:01 to 08:59 (local time) on Friday - likely disrupting some 24 scheduled flights from seven German airports. It is yet unclear whether the affected flights will be delayed or canceled.  Ryanair has stated that the airline and the VC union will meet in Frankfurt on Friday, January 5, to resolve outstanding disputes with Ryanair pilots in Germany, which it expects will result in a Collective Labor Agreement. Additional pilot strikes, and consequent air transportation disruptions, are possible in Germany in the coming days.

Context

The strike follows Ryanair's refusal to accept members of the German union delegation to enter into negotiations with Ryanair management. The planned German strike announcement also follows Ryanair's recent offer to recognize unions after Ryanair employees in several other European countries threatened to strike starting on December 20.

Ryanair pilots across Europe threatened to strike during the holiday period in recent weeks due to a conflict with Ryanair management over the airline's refusal to negotiate with national representative bodies. The strikes were called off on December 17. In recent months, Ryanair pilots have been increasingly dissatisfied with the company's internal union, the Employee Representative Committee, and have been joining local pilot unions.

Conflict between the pilots' unions and Ryanair began after the airline canceled over 20,000 flights from November 2017 through March 2018. The airline claimed the flights were canceled due to a lack of standby pilots. All canceled flights are listed on Ryanair's website.

Advice

Potentially impacted passengers traveling with Ryanair are advised to monitor developments to the situation and confirm their travel reservations and itineraries.