Ryanair threatens to cut jobs as strikes ground flights

Ryanair threatened Wednesday to cut more then 300 jobs as the no-frills Irish airline faced down its biggest strikes that have forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights.
Europe's largest low-cost carrier said in a statement it had issued 90 days notice to more than 100 pilots and over 200 cabin crew under plans to cut its Dublin fleet from 30 to around 24 aircraft for this winter, following recent pilots' strikes there.
The airline said there had been "a downturn in forward bookings and airfares in Ireland partly as a result of recent rolling strikes by Irish pilots" which "has had a negative effect on high fare bookings and forward air fares as consumer confidence in the reliability of our Irish flight schedules has been disturbed." The announcement came a day after dozens of Ryanair's Ireland-based pilots staged their third 24-hour strike in an ongoing dispute over working arrangements including annual leave and promotions, leading to the cancellation of 16 flights affecting some 2,500 customers.
The airline said that the overhaul was also partly driven by the "rapid growth" of Ryanair Sun, which is its profitable Polish charter airline.
The group will begin consultations with affected staff and offer transfers to Poland to minimise redundancies.
"We regret these base aircraft reductions at Dublin for winter 2018, but the board has decided to allocate more aircraft to those markets where we are enjoying strong growth (such as Poland)," said chief operating officer Peter Bellew.
Ryanair, which flies in 37 countries and carried 130 million passengers last year, averted widespread strikes before Christmas by deciding to recognise trade unions for the first time in its 32-year history. But it has since struggled to reach agreement on terms with several of them. The airline is facing its biggest week of strikes as in addition to the Irish pilots, cabin crew in Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Italy began on Wednesday a two-day walkout over work conditions, leading to the cancellation of 600 flights.