Ryanair requests collective dismissal of Dutch staff

Ryanair filed for the collective dismissal of its Dutch staff, including 16 Dutch pilots who previously won a lawsuit against the Irish budget airline, pilots' union VNV said. Ryanair said it is taking this step for economic reasons, NU.nl reports.

Ryanair closed its base at Eindhoven Airport last month. The airline informed the Dutch employees working from that base that they have to move to another European airport or be dismissed. 16 pilots took the airline to court, saying that the closure of the Eindhoven base was an act of retribution for previous strikes. The court ruled that the airline made the decision to close the base on unlawful grounds and has to forgo the closure, and that Ryanair can't force the pilots to move to another European country.

VNV said it is surprised that benefits agency UWV is handling this request for collective dismissal, because the court previously ruled that the closure of the Eindhoven base was done as retribution for previous pilot strikes. "The application does not meet the requirements set by the UWV itself. Economic reasons are not supported by the figures", the union said, according to the newspaper.

In a reaction, UWV said that Ryanair's application is sufficiently substantiated to be processed and that the reason for the application is the closure of the Eindhoven base.

Before the closure, Ryanair had some 50 pilots and 150 cabin crew members working from Eindhoven. A number of the cabin crew members have already been dismissed.