Irish budget carrier Ryanair has confirmed it's canceling some 30 flights Thursday after pilots based in Ireland announced a 24-hour strike. They want the airline to meet their demands over new working practices.Ryanair said it had canceled 30 of its 290 Irish flights on Thursday as a result of a strike announced by the Irish Airline Pilots' Association last week. The company said the disruption was limited to high-frequency British-Irish routes, but warned that knock-on effects could not be ruled out. Pilots directly employed by Ryanair and who are members of its Irish trade union voted to go on strike for the first time after the union said last week the budget carrier had failed to meet demands over new working practices. Irish pilots had said they wanted a better negotiated deal with regard to wages, the allocation of base transfers, promotions and annual leave. Stalled talks “These coordinated strike threats are designed to cause unnecessary disruption to customers and damage Ryanair's low-fare model, for the benefit of high-fare competitor airlines in Ireland and Germany,” Ryanair said in a statement. Ryanair executives fear that further strike action may hit the airline in Italy, Portugal, Spain, Greece and France later in the summer holiday season. The Irish no-frills carrier was in deep trouble last year when it had to cancel hundreds of flights over insufficient crew caused by rostering failures. There were massive complaints by staff about working conditions at the airline. hg/jd (Reuters, EFE)
