The Canary Islands have not been affected so far by flight cancellations due to the Ryanair strike, but the tourism sector remains vigilant in the face of stoppages that are announced until January 7. La Voz has spoken with the Ryanair spokesperson in Spain and Portugal, Elena Cabrera, who assures that Lanzarote and the rest of the islands in the archipelago will not be affected. In addition, she denies the information from the unions, maintains that the strike's follow-up is being "minimal" and affirms that the cancellations that are currently occurring in the rest of Spain are not due to the strike, but to the international context.
Although Ryanair is downplaying the impact of this strike, cancellations are being reported almost daily, sometimes up to ten flights in a day...
There have been cancellations, but they are not mainly due to the strikes. I know that the unions strongly support that they are derived from the strikes, but that is not the case. If you see the national panorama, there are many delays in general for the companies, whether or not they have associated strikes.
A report came out in July and it talks about the companies with the most cancellations and I think Ryanair was in thirteenth or fourteenth place. Of the last ones, above KLM, Iberia or British Airways, which do not have strikes right now. Therefore, the cancellations we are having are not due to the strikes, and we have even had cancellations on Saturday, which is not a strike day.
Right now in Europe there are many air traffic controller strikes and there are many capacity reductions at airports such as Frankfurt, Amsterdam or London. This is causing much more congestion at airports, lack of personnel and delayed planes.
The cabin crew and pilots can work a certain number of hours in a row, so when that time passes the crew has to change, and because of all this there are delays. A perfect storm that we have right now and that will last in time, it will not be solved this month.
None of the cancellations have been due to the strike?
At the beginning there were cancellations linked to the strikes, but that number has been decreasing drastically, because there are fewer and fewer cabin crew members joining the strike.
There are very few who continue on strike, because they have understood that we have already signed an agreement with CCOO in which the improvements are signed and that they are being fulfilled. Therefore, this strike has no reason to exist.
The union spoke of 30% follow-up, what data does Ryanair handle?
We have a daily operation of 3,000 flights, and if 6 are cancelled, it does not represent 30 percent. The cancellations that are occurring with respect to the operation are being very small.
Ryanair is the largest company in Spain in capacity in the last 11 years, and I repeat that these cancellations are not derived from the strike, but from the complications of the European context.
Do you think the strike will continue until January 7?
We believe that it will not last long. It is having less and less follow-up from the cabin crew. USO and Sitcpla are saying things that are not true, and asking for things like Ryanair to act under Spanish law, and since 2017 it has been operating under Spanish legislation.
They also say that they do not give water to the TCP, and what happened is that previously, when the airports were not so digitalized, in the company's meeting room they had purified water and there they could refill the bottles. It is true that time has passed and it is no longer necessary to go through that room, it is automated and you go to the boarding gate, and there was a certain time that they did not have water, but that is solved and for some time they have accessible water bottles in each of the flights.
They also say that the TCP have to pay for the uniforms, and that is not true either. When new ones arrive they are given a new uniform, and every year they receive 400 euros to renew their uniform. The TCP with whom we talk, because we want to know their point of view, already know it. They are claiming things that they already have.
The strike is focused on the airports where Ryanair has a base, but why is it affecting some more than others?
It is proportional, effectively where it affects the most is in airports with a lot of operations. At El Prat airport we have thirteen planes based there, obviously having a lot of operations, and an airport at the limit of its capacity, it has a greater impact.
Although you do not currently have a base in the Canary Islands and there have been no cancellations so far, could they occur in the coming months, in connections with the most affected airports?
In principle, the impact of the strike is practically zero, and as far as the Canary Islands are concerned, since there is no base and these flights between the Canary Islands and the peninsula are protected, we have no cancellations. Flights to the Canary Islands are 100% protected.
Precisely this Tuesday, USO announced that a connection between Santiago de Compostela and Fuerteventura was going to be cancelled, which was finally maintained. The union then denounced “scabbing”, stating that the company mobilized crew from France to make the route. Is that true? Is it a common practice?
That is not true. What happened on Tuesday were flights that left with a delay. They were not strike flights because they were protected flights. Being within the minimum services, the company has to operate.
Therefore, a flight to Fuerteventura has to leave. It makes no sense for the unions to say that it was because of the strike.
And the issue that has been talked about a lot in the media that we send people from other bases working on different flights, is done on a regular basis and is a common practice. It happens when there are technical problems, large delays or lack of crew, and you temporarily take personnel from the base in Madrid, Malaga or France, and they work temporarily on that route. It is done to ensure that flights depart and to ensure the well-being of customers.
Does Ryanair guarantee the right to strike of the workers?
We guarantee 100% the right to strike, as it could not be otherwise, and the workers who want to can join that strike. What is true is that when there are strikes, for the protection of the country's economy, there are minimum services that we have to comply with.
The unions are trying to find headlines and lies against the company, and they are things that are not true and we have to continually go out to deny it.
Are the negotiations between the company and USO and Sitcpla going to be resumed to try to reach an agreement?
We have been trying to negotiate with them for four years, more than 50 meetings in the last eight months with the mediation of the Government, and it has been impossible to reach an agreement. We have tried it by all means.
We have agreements in all countries with all the unions, and in Spain we have reached an agreement with Comisiones Obreras, and we have done it in six weeks. Don't USO and Sitcpla have the problem of not reaching an agreement? We have tried it actively and passively, which has been the main objective of the company, and it has been impossible.
In the midst of this mediation by the Government, they decided to go on strike, so we consider that it is impossible to move forward, that it is a union that is not willing to negotiate and that has simply wanted to go to war.
In the agreement with CCOO there are salary increases and schedule improvements. The cabin crew, in a period of two weeks, worked 5 days, had 2 days off, worked 5 and had 3 days off. Now, with the signed agreement, they work 5 and have 3 off all the time.
In addition, the TCP have a minimum salary that complies with the law, unlike what the unions that call the strike say, and then from there the flight hours are added. A TCP can earn 35,000 or 40,000 euros a year, working 5 days and having 3 off, and also working a maximum of 18 hours a week, since they cannot work more than 900 a year.
I think it is a very good job, and always returning to your base. They are short distance flights and you always sleep in the same place every day. The conditions signed with CCOO are good, and we do not see the point of sitting down again with USO and Sitcpla because they have been four fruitless years and, in fact, we have hundreds and hundreds of crew members who are joining CCOO, and we consider that right now it is our reference union and it makes no sense to meet with USO and Sitclpa.
Has the company noticed a decrease in ticket sales as a result of the start of the strike? Do you think it generates uncertainty among passengers when buying a ticket?
The July data shows that we have 96% full of our planes. We are well above pre-covid data and we have increased capacity to 115%. And speaking in Lanzarote specifically, we have increased by 28%.
We are not seeing any impact on that, and anyone who buys on Ryanair or another company sees that the same thing is happening in all of them: there are delays, cancellations, even if they do not appear in the media.
I understand the discomfort of passengers who want tranquility and we apologize for the delays in the schedules of the planes, but I always say that they have patience and empathy and that it will be for a long time.
What happens to passengers who have a flight with Ryanair and, due to the strike, see that their flight has been cancelled?
Anyone who is going to be cancelled will receive an email and will be notified of the cancellation, and they will be offered a change of flight or a refund of the ticket price.
