Pilot claims ‘harassment’ forced him out of Ryanair

A FORMER Ryanair pilot has claimed he was forced by the airline to choose between paying €15,000 himself to retrain on new aircraft or waive his right to bring grievance procedures against the airline.

Peard, 39, who now works for Emirates Airlines based in Dubai, claims he was constructively dismissed from his job with Ryanair after he felt compelled to resign in June 2007 following a “systematic and ongoing campaign of harassment” over a number of years.

The pilot claims Ryanair denied him promotion, manipulated the roster to reduce his salary as well as deliberately underpaying him.

Mr Peard, a married father of four, told the Employment Appeals Tribunal in Dublin yesterday he was faced with “a Hobson’s choice” of paying his own retraining fees which he couldn’t afford or giving up his legal right to take a claim against Ryanair over the erosion of working conditions for pilots.

Mr Peard was among a group of Dublin-based pilots who took an industrial relations case against Ryanair after the airline tried to get them to sign a bond stating the company could recoup the e15,000 cost of retraining them on new Boeing aircraft if it had to recognise a trade union for collective bargaining.

Mr Peard said he had sold his family car for e15,000 and bought a replacement for just e300 as he wasn’t prepared to sign away his right to raise his grievances with the airline.

The EAT heard Mr Peard had unsuccessfully sought clarification in writing over a 16-month period on whether his outstanding claims against Ryanair were affecting his chances of being promoted to flight captain. He stressed that he had met all the criteria set by Ryanair for a first officer to be considered for promotion. Mr Peard denied any suggestion he was more inexperienced than others who had been promoted.

The pilot said he had also been informed by a senior Ryanair official that it was the airline’s policy not to promote any pilot who had an outstanding claim against the company — a claim strongly refuted by Ryanair.

Mr Peard said the core issue in his case was whether he had to drop his claim in order to progress his career with the airline.

He asked the EAT to consider the situation where someone who had brought a complaint of sexual harassment against a company was asked to withdraw it to gain promotion. “We all know what the answer to that would be,” said Mr Peard.

Cross-examined by Frank Beatty for Ryanair, the pilot denied he was “a stool pigeon” for the pilots’ trade union, IALPA. However, Mr Peard admitted he did not know how many claims he made against Ryanair in relation to working terms and conditions. He insisted his concern related to his right to bring such claims rather their actual content.

Mr Peard rejected Mr Beatty’s suggestion someone who had taken such a principled stand should know the details and number of the claims he had brought.

Mr Beatty remarked it was “entirely incredible” Mr Peard had not pursued his constitutional rights given the fact he regarded them as a matter of principle.

The hearing continues.