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Ryanair faces Christmas pilots’ disruption threat

Ryanair Dublin flights face the prospect of Christmas disruption after some Irish-based pilots voted for industrial action.

A vote by members of the Irish Airline Pilots Association (Ialpa) union resulted in 79 of 84 voters backing action.

Ialpa represents only a proportion of Ryanair’s senior Dublin pilots and it has not been decided whether the industrial action will include strikes.

The executive committee of Impact, an umbrella union to which Ialpa is affiliated, is due to meet today to discuss the result of the ballot, the Irish Times reported.

Ryanair said it had received no notification of any industrial action, calling Ialpa an “Aer Lingus pilots group”, referring to the rival Dublin-based carrier.

“Now that Ryanair’s Cork, Shannon and Belfast bases have agreed 20% pay increases, we expect the Dublin pilots to follow this trend,” the budget carrier said.

“However, if Ryanair’s Dublin pilots are misled by some Aer Lingus pilots into industrial action then they will lose their favourable rosters and remuneration benefits that are specifically linked by agreement to dealing directly with Ryanair.

“If any such industrial action occurs Ryanair will still not engage with, or recognise, Aer Lingus pilots or their Ialpa union.”

Ryanair has come under increasing pressure from pilots since it announced two waves of flight cancellations due to an error in scheduling their hours.

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