Ryanair fires cabin crew stationed at Eindhoven, union says

Sixteen Ryanair cabin crew workers at Eindhoven Airport have been fired by the Irish budget airline, according to union FNV. According to the airline, these workers were still in their trial period, which lasts a year according to Irish employment law, NOS reports.

Ryanair closed its base at Eindhoven Airport on Monday. Over 60 of the 98 cabin crew workers were transferred from Eindhoven to other airports. Half refused these transfers, and the other half agreed under protest, according to NOS. FNV is filing a lawsuit against the closure of Ryanair's base at Eindhoven, and to force the airline to use Dutch labor law for Dutch employees.

The Irish airline also transferred the 49 pilots stationed at Eindhoven to other bases. Sixteen pilots filed a lawsuit against this last week, and won. The judge ruled that Ryanair is changing the conditions of employment with a forced transfer, and "it seems that the decision was taken as a sanction on previous strike actions".

On Monday trade union VNV said that the pilots whose transfers were banned by the court, were still simply scheduled by Ryanair to fly from other airports such as Sofia or Marrakech. The pilots union will await further developments before deciding to take new legal steps.