Ryanair CEO: Union recognition will not alter carrier's 'cost leadership' in European aviation
Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary commented (05-Feb-2018) on the carrier's decision to recognise unions, stating: "After 30 years of successfully dealing directly with our people it became clear in December [2017] that a majority of pilots wanted to be represented by unions. In keeping with our policy to recognise unions when the majority of our people wanted it, we have met pilot unions in Ireland, UK, Spain, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Belgium and France... While union recognition may add some complexity to our business and may cause short-term disruptions and negative PR it will not alter our cost leadership in European aviation, or change our plan to grow to 200 million traffic p/a by March 2024". Ryanair concluded its first recognition agreement with the British Airlines Pilots' Association in Jan-2018 and also expects to have similar engagements with cabin crew unions. [more - original PR]