Ryanair lambasted for plan to close Eindhoven base

Ryanair's plan to close its base at Eindhoven Airport was largely met with fierce criticism on social media and from trade unions. Many, including SP parliamentarian Cem Lacin, accuse the Irish budget airline of closing the Eindhoven base to punish its Dutch employees for striking on Friday.

"On Friday pilots and cabin crew held a strike, now Ryanair says its closing the base in Eindhoven. Scandalous, this attitude towards its employees! We must act against this, Ryanair must adhere to our labor law and stop this exploitation", Lacin said on Twitter.

Many other Twitter users agree. "Ryanair closing its Eindhoven and Bremen bases as punishment for the recent strike action is such a filthy tactic. This dispute needs addressing", one wrote. Another: "Just like Amazon, Ryanair isn't good to its employees. Only to its management, shareholders and bargain hunters." And: "If Ryanair scraps the base in Eindhoven, I will scrap the company and use the train. Solidarity with the employees!"

Another Twitter user points out that after reducing its profit expectations for the year, Ryanair still expects to make 1.1 billion euros in profit this year. "Jesus, times are hard", he wrote. One Twitter user suggested that instead of complaining about the costs of the strikes, Ryanair should invest half of its profit into better wages for its pilots and personnel.

The Irish airline's employees were informed about the decision to close the Eindhoven base in a memo on Monday, the trade unions were not informed, FNV said in a statement. "For us it is completely unacceptable that the employees were ordered to move and work from another airport in Europe within a few weeks, or else be dismissed", Asmae Hajjari of FNV said. "The winter plan can not be rolled out so quickly, so there's now way other than that this decision to closure has been in the works for some time."

According to the union, this closure will have major consequences for 40 pilots, 98 cabin crew members, and their families.

While most comments on Twitter blamed Ryanair for this situation, at least one blamed the unions. "Well VNV now you have done it with your weak left-wing union, your commotion cost Eindhoven Airport hard and important income... On behalf of your benevolent colleagues THANKS", he wrote.