DUBLIN: Ryanair is on course to post record annual profits despite a rostering mess-up that forced it to cancel 20,000 flights and sparked a dispute with pilots, Europe’s busiest airline said yesterday.
The Irish airline said it was confident it could attract the number of pilots its needs to fulfil ambitious plans to grow from 130 million to 200 million passengers a year by 2024 despite the rejection by crew at its largest base of a pay hike.
Ryanair has seen over two billion euros knocked off its share price since it announced the first wave of cancellations on September 15, an emergency measure to free up standby pilots to ensure the smooth operation of its fleet of 400 planes.
The cancellations sparked a wave of bad publicity and forced Ryanair to cut its growth plans for the first time in years. But it has insisted this is a temporary measure and its long-term growth plans remain intact.
The airline fired its chief operations officer and hired Malaysia Airlines chief executive officer Peter Bellew to spearhead an effort to better retain and attract pilots.
Increases in pay will cost around 100 million euros per year if accepted by pilots in all of the company’s bases, it said.
Ryanair said it had cut fares by five per cent in the six months to months to September 31, the first half of its financial year. Fares for the six months to March 31 will fall by between four and six per cent rather than the five to seven per cent previously guided. — Reuters