Ryanair has struck a deal with unionised cabin crew, warding off the threat of industrial action and airport chaos.
On Thursday the budget airline announced that it had agreed terms of a new collective agreement with Unite.
It said that the deal "delivers accelerated pay restoration, upfront and annual pay increases, a significant restructuring of pay to deliver more guaranteed earnings and other pay and benefit improvements for all of Ryanair’s UK-based cabin crew until 2026".
Earlier this summer Ryanair cabin crew members told The Mirror that they were in negotiations with the company over complaints with their pay.
At the end of August CEO Michael O'Leary told the paper that the company hoped to increase flight attendant pay by 8% across Europe if the company's performance continued to be strong.
The company has not announced what pay increase it has given staff in today's deal, but workers will be getting a fixed five days on, three days off roster.
Ryanair has also said that it will grow to 115% of its pre-Covid capacity this year, and that it is "prioritising the early restoration of pay for its people through renegotiated agreements to keep jobs secure and to have a foundation for growth."
During the pandemic staff agreed to take pay cuts while the majority of the airline's fleet was grounded.
Ryanair is currently recruiting for new cabin crew in the UK, with more than 2,500 new jobs to fill.
It aims to be flying 225million passengers a year by 2026.
Ryanair’s People Director, Darrell Hughes, said: “This long-term agreement delivers stability, pay improvements, future pay increases, promotions and other benefit improvements for our cabin crew in the UK over the next three years, where we are currently recruiting for new cabin crew to support our continued growth to 225m passengers by 2026.
"We continue to work with our crew and their unions across Europe on new agreements, similar to those concluded with Unite in the UK, CCOO in Spain and SNPNC-FO in France this week.
"We have already successfully negotiated improved long-term agreements this summer with over 85% of our Pilots, and over 90% of our Cabin Crew, as we prioritise post-Covid pay improvements.”
Reacting to the news, a Ryanair pilot praised the pay deal for boosting cabin crew members to "well above pre-pandemic pay levels" while improving their terms and conditions.
They went on to question why pilots were still on lower salaries than the start of the pandemic, after a collective agreement was struck to have their 20% Covid pay cut restored by April next year - if the company performs well.
"When will Ryanair management learn that their staff are their most important assets?" they said.
On the deal, Unite national officer Oliver Richardson said: “We can confirm, based on Unite proposals, that we have reached an agreement in relation to pay. We are continuing discussions on improving further terms and conditions in order to ensure our members equally share in the recovery of the airline post Covid.”
In July Ryanair staff told The Mirror that the size of their workload was becoming an increasingly big issue for them.
Both pilots and flight attendants said they were working schedules were busier than in pre-pandemic 2019, and that the company was increasingly struggling to fill roster gaps created by leaving staff.
Cabin crew claimed they were sometimes called in the early hours of their days off by management asking if they could cover a shift.
Pilots and flight attendants had been flown in from continental European countries to fill rota gaps and then jetted home in their own time, several claimed.
At the time a Ryanair spokesperson said: "It is a normal part of airline operations that pilots and cabin crew can occasionally operate from other bases depending on the airline’s operational requirements.
"Ryanair is fully crewed in the UK for both pilots and cabin crew. We are experiencing above normal levels of disruption due to air traffic control staff shortages, airport and third-party ground handling delays.
"Whilst every delay and cancellation is regrettable, Ryanair continues to outperform our competitor airlines with the fewest cancellations and the best on time performance despite the very challenging operational environment for our industry."
