Pilot Strike Prompts Hundreds of Ryanair Flight Cancellations

Ryanair is canceling hundreds of flights across Europe Friday due to a pilot strike in several countries, including Ireland, Sweden, Belgium, and Germany.

The Irish low-cost carrier said the thousands of affected customers would be notified via email and text message by Wednesday afternoon. Passengers will have the option to receive a refund, rebook on the next flight or reroute.

The cancellations will affect approximately 15 percent of Ryanair’s more than 2,400 scheduled flights for Friday, impacting more than 70,000 travelers.

Ryanair said flight operations would return to normal Saturday.

In a statement, Ryanair’s Chief Marketing Officer, Kenny Jacobs called the strike “unnecessary,” claiming the airline did its part to find resolution with the Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) pilot union.

“We regret the decision of the VC to go ahead with this unnecessary strike action given that we sent through a revised proposal on a Collective Labor Agreement (on August 3) and stated our intention to work towards achieving a CLA together. We also invited VC to meet us on Tuesday but they did not respond to this invitation,” said Jacobs.

“Ryanair is now forced to cancel 250 flights of over 2,400 flights scheduled to operate on Friday, August 10. We apologize to our customers for this unnecessary strike and regrettable disruption.”

Ryanair has been under threat of crippling strikes all summer long, with pilots and cabin crew in countries across the continent planning work stoppages in hopes of securing some concessions on employment terms.

According to ABC News, the airline has been hit with strikes by flight attendants in Spain, Portugal, and Belgium while Irish pilots have held four strike days.

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