Coronavirus: Ryanair cuts 3,000 jobs

Another thunderclap in the European sky. Low-cost airline Ryanair will cut 3,000 out of 19,000 jobs to "survive" the airline crisis. The Irish carrier's plan, which therefore covers 15% of the workforce, targets mainly pilots and flight personnel. These deletions are "the minimum we need to survive the next twelve months," said company boss Michael O'Leary. If a vaccine is not found and the traffic does not return to normal, "we could announce more suppressions," he warned.

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Ryanair will operate 1% of its flights in April, May and June, with only 150,000 passengers instead of 42.4 million. And she does not expect a return to normal before the summer of 2022. In the meantime, her employees will take leave without pay or see their wages decrease by 20% while Michael O'Leary will lower his remuneration by 50% until March 2021.

Like its competitors, Ryanair is suffering from the paralysis of air transport linked to the pandemic, which deprives airlines of revenues while their fixed costs remain enormous. In the first quarter of its staggered fiscal year, from April to June, the company expects a loss of 100 million euros. But it is opposed to public aid which it accuses of distorting competition and which it intends to challenge before European courts.

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Airlines' recourse to deal with the crisis varies. British Airways will cut 12,000 jobs, more than a quarter of its workforce. EasyJet has negotiated a £ 600 million loan. The founder of the Virgin Atlantic company claims public aid. But the British government rules out any specific plan for the aviation sector. A choice opposite to that of some European Union states. The German government could take 25% of the capital of Lufthansa while Air France-KLM should receive 7 to 11 billion euros in loans guaranteed by the French and Dutch governments.