German pilots join Friday’s strike at budget airline Ryanair

Markus Wahl, Vice President of the Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), VC President Martin Locher, Ingolf Schumacher, VC’s head of wage policy and spokesperson Janis Schmitt (from left) stand behind a banner reading ‘No Landing Clearance for Irish social dumping’ during a press conference in Frankfurt, Germany on  Aug. 8, 2018. AP

FRANKFURT, Germany — A German pilots union is joining Friday’s strike against Ryanair along with colleagues from Ireland, Sweden and Belgium at the peak of the vacation travel season.

The Vereinigung Cockpit union said it was calling on pilots to halt work for 24 hours, from 3:01 a.m. Friday to 2:59 a.m. Saturday.

Pilot representatives said at a news conference at Frankfurt’s international airport that they were seeking a labor agreement with comparable conditions to those at Ryanair’s competitors.

The airline has already cancelled 146 of 2,400 flights scheduled for Friday. The airline has been hit with strikes by flight attendants in Spain, Portugal and Belgium. Irish pilots have held four strike days.

Ryanair scheduled its own news conference for later Wednesday and declined to comment ahead of that. /ee