Ryanair has said that flights from the UK will “operate as scheduled” on August 22 and 23, despite its failure to block a strike by pilots through the High Court.
The low-cost carrier wrote on Twitter that flights would go ahead “thanks to the great work and volunteerism of the vast majority of our UK pilots,” saying that it did not expect major disruption for the rest of this week but could not rule out delays.
This morning it successfully obtained an injunction in the Dublin High Court to prevent its Irish pilots from striking.
The British Airline Pilots’ Association said that a judge at the High Court in London had “rejected Ryanair’s various technical and legal arguments and agreed that BALPA’s industrial action ballot and procedures were lawful, and so the strike can proceed.”
However it said it would respond to the legal victory “by offering an olive branch to Ryanair – a framework to allow constructive negotiations to take place”.
It warned that passengers may still be affected if its “overture” is rejected.
Ryanair did not comment on the second set of strike action planned for 0001 on 2 September until 2359 on 4 September.
Brian Strutton, BALPA General Secretary said: “Ryanair was foolish to bring this into the High Court rather than the negotiating room. We offered to meet Ryanair management at ACAS to negotiate a resolution, but instead they attempted a legal bludgeon. That’s backfired.
“However, we are clear that we want to settle the dispute and bring about a change in Ryanair for the better.
“Pilots in Ryanair are seeking the same kind of policies and agreements that exist in other airlines – our demands are not unreasonable. We want to address issues like pensions; loss of licence insurance; maternity benefits; allowances; and harmonise pay across the UK in a fair, transparent, and consistent structure.
“We hope that Ryanair will take up our offer of a way forward this evening so we can call off this action. We urge Ryanair to change their attitude to dealing with us, and adopt a constructive approach.
“In the event that Ryanair rejects our overture and therefore the action over the next two days does go ahead, we apologise to the passengers who will be affected. Such action could have been avoided if Ryanair adopts a different approach.”
