Passengers travelling with Ryanair in Germany on Friday saw little disruption from a short strike called by a pilots' union, with the no-frills airline praising crew for "largely ignoring" the unprecedented walkout. But Germany's powerful Cockpit union (VC) declared it a "successful warning strike".
The union had asked Ryanair pilots to walk off the job from 5-9am (0400-0800 GMT) in a battle for recognition from the Irish carrier whose workers have been calling for better pay and conditions across Europe. But the impact of the first-ever strike action by pilots in Ryanair's 32-year history was limited, causing just some delays and no cancellations.
Ryanair said nine of the 36 flights scheduled to depart within the strike window were delayed by the actions of "a small number of pilots". "We are grateful to all of our Ryanair pilots for putting our customers first and largely ignoring this VC strike," it said in a statement.
It added that it apologised to customers for any inconvenience suffered "as a result of this unjustified and unnecessary strike". At Germany's busiest travel hub, Frankfurt airport, all six scheduled Ryanair flights left as planned, according to DPA news agency.
Most flights left as planned at Berlin-Schoenefeld airport as well, where seven departures were on the board. The 6:40 am flight to Italy's Bergamo however was delayed by five hours. At the Cologne/Bonn airport in western Germany, passengers for a Ryanair flight to Copenhagen were told to expect a 10-hour delay.
The Cockpit union nevertheless said it was satisfied with the strike participation, which had only applied to pilots directly employed by Ryanair. Their walkouts had forced the carrier to scramble to find crew elsewhere, said union spokesman Markus Wahl.
"Nearly half the flights were delayed and on the other flights Ryanair deployed pilots who weren't called to strike," Wahl said. Union president Ilja Schulz told public broadcaster ZDF the aim had not been to cause maximum travel chaos mere days before Christmas.
"The goal was simply to show Ryanair that the pilots we called on to strike are willing to fight for better working conditions now." Ryanair last week took the unprecedented step of offering to finally recognise unions after crew in Germany, Ireland, Britain, Italy, Spain and Portugal threatened walkouts in long-running rows over pay and conditions.
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