Ryanair continues to put pressure on Belgium. In the face of calls for union strikes and increases in airport taxes, Michael O’Leary, the head of the low-cost airline, is once again threatening to leave the country.
“I don’t see any growth in your country for the next 12 months. Belgium, this country that I have so close to my heart, especially because of its unions, has a bizarre economic model”, she assures in an interview with Free Belgium.
The Brussels-Zaventem airport “is one of those bases that we are following very closely. I cannot guarantee that we will not close this winter,” he indicates. And the CEO says he is considering “retiring planes” at Charleroi-Brussels South airport.
“Who invented this shit?”
“We will go where there is growth and where we can facilitate our low-cost model. If we have a better deal with another airport, we will move,” added Michael O’Leary.
The capo lambastes in particular the increase in airport and passenger taxes in the country: “Who invented this crap? Brussels Airlines, which passes through Frankfurt for its long-distance flights, does not pay it. It’s a joke! We prefer to tax to the poor”. who travel with Ryanair” Michael O’Leary takes offense.
“In addition to this stupid tax that penalizes Belgian airports, the Zaventem management had the brilliant idea to increase their prices when the airport lost 30% of its traffic,” he continues.
But it is in fact the demands of the employees (pilots and stewardesses/stewards) that bother the management. In late August, a group of 46 pilots took the airline to court in Belgium to demand salary increases, after several strikes in Europe this summer.
The pilots turned to the Charleroi labor court to get their salaries restored to the level they were before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Belgian pilots take the company to court
During this crisis, which had grounded much of European civil aviation, Ryanair had obtained a 20% pay cut from its pilots, citing the need to save money and threatening to resort to dismissals, according to the Confederation of Trade Unions. Christians (CSC). ).
But the union now accuses the company of using pay cuts to win parts of the market after the restart of activity in Europe and the lifting of health restrictions.
Ryanair’s strategy is well known. The company had already raised the same threat in Marseille or in Portugal after numerous social tensions.
Also, some unions are not fooled. For the permanent secretary of the CNE Yves Lambot quoted by the Belgian media Mosquitothese threats are “pipe” given that Ryanair, like most airlines, has to manage a very strong recovery and poorly anticipated traffic, so it needs all its bases and lines to meet demand.
Especially since from the Brussels-Charleroi airport, Ryanair offers no less than 121 destinations, making it a strategic nerve center for the company.
Source: BFM TV
