Below is a summary of the most relevant events that took place in Ryanair since the last edition of our Cockpit Flash.

Ryanair has published a profit of 1.4 billions this year. However this summer might be one of the most difficult ones for the company, mainly due to the massive exodus of experienced pilots, including within the training department.

The main reasons for this are:

• All the major airlines are recruiting (Lufthansa, Air France, British Airways, easyJet, Qatar Airways, Emirates, China Airlines, etc.).
• Unstable roster planning: the number of roster changes on both long and short terms is not helping them to keep people. Pilots have to deal with change of duty even at extremely short notice (on check in 45 min before the flight). This situation leads to a very unpredictable work/life balance. This is mainly due to the lack of pilots. Crew control calls people during their days off even at 04.00 AM to find people willing to work on a day off and get an extra allowance. Pilots who accept that request a short day, which leads to short notice duty change.
• Due to the new EASA regulation on FTL, Ryanair had to change its operational year. This means that the FTL is not calculated from April to March anymore, but based on a normal civil year (i.e January to December). That situation has induced some changes in the Annual Leave System. In other words, pilots are still required to take one full month of annual leave and have the right to apply for 3 ad hoc days throughout the year (instead of 10).

BRU base

Due to the fines levied in case of noise regulation infringement over the city of Brussels, Ryanair set up stringent procedures. The company airport briefing clearly states that full runway length and full thrust must be used for take-off. Autopilot has to be engaged by 1.000 feet and idle reverse selected for landing unless for safety reasons.

CRL base

The Charleroi base has 13 aircraft and is thus the biggest base in Belgium.
Sector pay has reduced with the new pilot agreement. Which means that over 10 years the average salary has never stopped decreasing even before taking the inflation into account.

Seven European pension schemes ditch Ryanair stock

Seven European pension schemes overseeing nearly €300bn of assets have pulled their investments in Ryanair due to concerns about high-profile labour disputes involving the budget airline.
Michael O’Leary, the outspoken chief executive of Ryanair, described the pension funds that have sold their holdings as “idiots”, adding: “We don’t pay too much attention to pension funds who have excluded us over labour concerns.”

Read the full article here: http://on.ft.com/2whuCSS

Irish aircraft, Irish employee?

Not necessarily says European Court of Justice’s Advocate General

A year ago, we informed you about the Mons Labour Court’s judgment, which recognised that it was competent in a case that opposed Ryanair and 6 crew members. However, the court had referred the case to the European Court of Justice seeking for clarification on the home base concept. On 27 April 2017, the Advocate General gave his opinion and declared that “disputes relating to contracts of employment of air hostesses and stewards come within the jurisdiction of the courts of the place ‘where or from which’ those employees principally carry out their obligations vis-à-vis their employer”.

The AG’s opinion paves the way for a Court Judge- ment. This judgement has the enormous potential to bring legal certainty for the many thousands of air crews in Europe who doubt which laws apply to them, under which jurisdiction they fall, where to pay social security. Legal certainty on the habitu- al place of work would be a key element for better applying existing laws and preventing abuses from airlines.

Read the full story: http://bit.ly/2wALrZt