A GROUP of Ryanair pilots have rejected the offer of a £12,000 bonus from the airline to do away with their days off in the coming months.
Ryanair made the offer after an issue with staff leave meant that thousands of flights had to be cancelled until the end of October.
More than 300,000 passengers have been affected by the dispute, which has affected two per cent of all Ryanair services.
The Irish airline reportedly offered its pilots a tax-free cash bonus of £12,000 in exchange for agreeing to work extra days.
But a group of pilots from 14 Ryanair bases across Europe have sent a letter to the carrier refusing the offer on several grounds.
The pilots claimed that details around the offer were too vague, according to Sky News.
"(We) rescind the goodwill that has been extended toward the company for many years, including working days off and turning up early," their letter said.
Speaking at an AGM meeting in Dublin on Thursday, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary apologised for the disruption just days after he dubbed the cancellation fiasco a “mess”.
Mr O’Leary expressed regret to customers affected by cancelled flights and apologised to shareholders for a “failure” within Ryanair’s pilot rostering function.
“Ryanair expects by the end of this week to have re-accommodated, or authorised refund requests to over 95 per cent of the 315,000 customers affected by these cancellations,” he said.
Mr O’Leary added that Ryanair is planning to “take back” one week of its pilots’ holidays to prevent any further flight cancellations.
When asked about reports that pilots are threatening industrial action, Mr O'Leary responded: "If you want and need to ask your staff to give up holidays no work to rule can alter that.
"I don't even know how there would be industrial action in Ryanair. There isn't a union."
Mr O'Leary said that being an airline pilot "is very highly skilled but I challenge any pilot to explain how it is a difficult job or how they are overworked."
He added: "If pilots misbehave, that will be the end of the goodies."
