Ryanair has reached a five year pay deal with its Spanish pilots, it has claimed, warding off potential strikes.
The Irish airline says it has struck a deal which will accelerate "pay restoration and future improvements to pay in each year up to March 2027" for its Spain based pilots.
It comes two years after SELPA, which represents Ryanair pilots in the country, agred a 20% salary reduction over four years to help the company overcome the effects of the pandemic.
The agreement comes against a backdrop of continuing strikes by cabin crew working for the budget airline.
On Monday industrial action at 10 Spanish airports by Ryanair flight attendants led 10 flights to be cancelled and 266 to be delayed.
The strike, called by the USO and Sitcpla unions are expected to continue until Thursday, July 21, with a further block from July 25 to 28.
Ryanair says that it is now growing at 115% of its pre-Covid capacity, and is therefore looking to pay pilots back more quickly than previously planned.
It follows a similar agreement which was struck between the airline and French pilots.
Ryanair’s people director, Darrell Hughes said: "We welcome these long-term agreements which run until 2027 and will deliver numerous improvements for our pilots based in Spain and France.
"While the recovery from the impact of the pandemic is still ongoing and our industry faces significant challenges, this long-term agreement delivers stability, accelerated pay restoration, future pay increases and other benefit improvements for pilots.
"While all of our pilots across our European network are covered by 2020 Emergency Agreements, we continue to work with our pilots and their unions on new deals, similar to those concluded with SEPLA and SNPL, and have now successfully re-negotiated accelerated pay restoration and improved long-term agreements with over 85% of our pilots."
Earlier this month Ryanair pilots and cabin crew members in the UK spoke to the Mirror about concerns they had with the work culture at the company.
Many spoke of struggling to keep up with the long hours, the problems of dealing with troublesome passengers, and the financial impact of cut wages.
One struggling flight attendant was found looking for food in a plane's bins, while another was regularly brought food by their concerned colleagues, it was claimed.
