Ryanair pilots across Europe have agreed pay increases in the region of 10 per cent over five years with the airline.
A statement from Ryanair said it had concluded five-year pay agreements with all 76 of its pilot bases across Europe, and “has now commenced” a similar process with cabin crew.
The deal for pilots based in Dublin, a copy of which has been obtained by The Irish Times, involves a €2,000 increase in basic pay during the first year for captains and a €1,000 increase each year for the following four years, amounting to a total increase of €6,000 by the end of the period.
There is no reference to an increase in basic pay for first officers.
There have been conflicting accounts in relation to the annual salaries of Ryanair’s pilots, but The Irish Times has seen contracts from the airline offering the positions of captain and first officer at basic salaries of €62,500 and €21,000 a year respectively.
The deal also allows for a €500 increase in the captain’s annual “allowance” of €5,000 and a further €500 through the “new simulator allowance”, for periods during the year when pilots earn less money as they are obliged to undergo training.
First officers will also receive an additional €500 for time spent in the simulator.
Improved rosters
The airline also said the deal would involve “improved fixed rosters”, with five days on and three days off, but there were no specifics in terms of the hours to be worked during each day.
However, Irish Airline Pilots’ Association president Capt Evan Cullen said the “confusing statement” by Ryanair was “a new low in misrepresenting the real situation” that the pilots face in establishing “normal industrial relations” with their employer.
He said the agreement relates to less than 50 per cent of all pilots in Ryanair, as it does not apply to contractors.
