by Donald Wood
Last updated: 12:15 AM ET, Fri September 22, 2017
Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary revealed the airline is asking an unspecified number of its pilots to delay their vacations in order to avoid massive flight cancellations in the coming weeks.
According to BBC.com, O'Leary said some pilots were offered a 10,000-euro pay raise in exchange for changing their vacations after the airline was forced to start canceling 40-50 flights every day for the next six weeks due to scheduling conflicts.
The pilots who were offered the compensation work at airports in London, Dublin, Frankfurt and Berlin. Many of the employees were also offered a cash bonus to change their vacation dates, but the pilots have not been overly enthusiastic about the deal.
While Ryanair offered captains a one-off payment of £12,000 and first officers £6,000, crew members said they want new contracts and better working conditions instead. O'Leary said the airline had more to offer the pilots, but threatened to take the "goodies" off the bargaining table if they "misbehave."
It was also revealed Ryanair would lose an estimated 25 million Euros due to the cancellations, but O'Leary said "there won't be more cancellations because of the rostering issues."
[READMORE]READ MORE: Ryanair Will Have Just Two Drinks, Please[/READMORE]
As a result of the cancellations, Italy's antitrust watchdog revealed Wednesday it had opened a probe into Ryanair, saying the airline could have avoided the staffing issues. According to Reuters.com, the antitrust agency is also looking into whether Ryanair properly informed its customers of their rights to compensation.
Additionally, a report from the Irish Independent states the company is now looking to other countries, including Brazil, Italy and Germany to find pilots for its fleet.
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