Ryanair to put pilots on unpaid leave

RYANAIR has contacted its pilots to say they will be allocated one calendar week unpaid leave this winter due to the grounding of aircraft.

The airline said yesterday that following meetings with pilot representatives at Dublin and Stansted it contacted pilots to inform them that almost all Ryanair pilots at Stansted and a number of Dublin- based captains and co-pilots will be allocated one calendar week unpaid leave this winter.

Ryanair said it will look at a number of factors including earnings to date in order to allocate this leave in a way that will minimise the impact on pilots.