The Belgium-based Ryanair staff is striking again this weekend, with about 100 flights being cancelled at Brussels’ South Charleroi Airport.
The battle between employees and management has been on-going for a few months in Belgium, personnel reporting overwork and low wages. They also protested last week, during the New Year weekend, which affected about 20,000 passengers after 128 flights got cancelled.
The figures are similar to the first three days of the strike, but concentrated over two days. We are therefore talking about 20,000 travellers being impacted and 100 flights cancelled. We are waiting for the latest details to have exact figures.
Philippe Verdonck, CEO of Charleroi Airport
The strikes were announced in the last week of 2022 and passengers were sent notifications informing them if their flights are affected or not. “All customers were informed via email and sms and informed about the different options: rebooking to the next available flight, transfer to an alternative flight, or a full refund”, the airline said in a press release.
Only the 15 aircraft stationed at the airport and operated by Belgium-based staff will be grounded, with other Ryanair flights expected to proceed as scheduled. Flights at Brussels Airport Zaventem will not be affected, as the airline withdrew its base there last year.
Over the summer of 2022, Ryanair was hit by multiple strikes from the Belgian based staff, but the only response from management was a threat to completely leave the country. The personnel have complained multiple times about low wages, which are still not back to pre-Covid level and despite the airline posting a profit of €170 million in the first quarter of 2022 and CEO Michal O’Leary’s salary going up, the staff’s pleas have so far been left without a satisfactory reply.
