Ryanair contract practice ‘a threat to safety’

Ryanair’s employment practices, especially for pilots, creates safety risks and puts a major question mark over who would be responsible for compensation in the event of an accident, the European Parliament was told.

Irish labour law facilitates what were described as bogus contracts and was allowing what MEPs called “scandalous practices”, according to a report carried out by Ghent University.

Ryanair denied the accusations, describing the report commissioned by the pilots body, the European Cockpit Association (ECA) and funded by the European Commission, as “total rubbish” and “false claims” with “no basis in fact or evidence” and based on an anonymous internet survey.