Latest: Ryanair and unions "agree to meet on Wednesday"
Ryanair have said that pilot unions in Ireland and Germany have agreed to meet them on Wednesday, December 20, to discuss union recognition.
Ryanair has also claimed that they have offered to meet IALPA and their Ryanair pilot committee on Tuesday, December 19, "if that would suit them better".
The airline said in a statement: "The Portuguese pilot union has requested a meeting next week and Ryanair has offered to meet them on Thursday December 21.
"The British and Italian pilots’ unions have agreed to meet with Ryanair in early January."
Ryanair has again called on IALPA to cancel the threatened industrial action on Wednesday, which they say is "causing unnecessary concern and worry for thousands of Ryanair customers travelling home during Christmas week".
Ryanair and the pilots union IALPA are locked in a standoff, just days ahead of Wednesday’s planned strike.
There were hopes of a breakthrough yesterday when the airline announced that it would agree to their demand for union recognition.
IALPA said it needed an urgent meeting with management to clarify a number of issues before it would call off the action.
But Ryanair says the soonest it can meet is Wednesday - the day of the planned strike.
Aviation journalist Gerry Byrne thinks the pilots are being cautious because Ryanair’s offer doesn’t meet all their demands.
"It has invited each of them to talks to recognise these unions and the representative bodies for pilots in Ryanair in each of these countries," said Mr Byrne.
"Now that’s not what the pilots appear to be looking for.
"What they appear to be looking for is a pan-European representative council."
