Ryanair pilots decide to call off pre-Christmas airline strike

Ryanair pilots have decided to call off their strike as management agrees to recognise IMPACT trade union as their representatives.

The proposed strike was expected to begin in two days and continue for a period of five consecutive days over Christmas; meaning many customers feared their flights would be cancelled and they would not make it home for the holidays. In a statement, IMPACT praised the “principled determination of Ryanair pilots”, which they believe has “made this breakthrough possible”. It also stated that calling off the strike should  “remove any uncertainty for passengers intending to travel on Wednesday”. Ryanair’s chief operations officer Peter Bellew last night took to Twitter to confirm strikes by pilots in Dublin and Portugal were now cancelled.

Dublin Ryanair pilot strike cancelled by Impact Union for Wednesday. Talks start Tuesday evening. Let's get folks back home quietly for Xmas. Good to talk.

— Peter Bellew (@peterbellew) December 17, 2017

The union discussed last night that it looks forward to creating a positive relationship going forward with Ryanair management. They also agreed to meet management for a meeting on Tuesday but available sooner on request. Ryanair recognising trade union as pilot representatives is a dramatic change of its policy on industrial relations.