Moved from Nuremberg to Italy: Pilot sues Ryanair

Created: 01/12/2022 09:24

By: Katarina Amtmann

A Ryanair plane at Nuremberg Airport.

Several pilots had sued the airline (archive image).

© IMAGO / Aviation Stock

The Ryanair home base in Nuremberg was closed in March 2020, and the pilots were then transferred to Italy.

Several sued the airline.

Nuremberg/Bologna - Does a pilot have to accept being transferred abroad?

A court dealt with this question on Wednesday, November 30th.

Moved from Nuremberg to Italy: Pilot sues Ryanair

The Federal Labor Court (BAG) in Erfurt has now decided: Companies can also relocate their employees abroad if this has not been excluded in the employment contract or otherwise.

This only applies if the transfer is unreasonable in individual cases.

The BAG thus rejected several pilots from the Irish low-cost airline Ryanair.

The background to the dispute is the closure of the Ryanair home base at Albrecht Dürer Airport in Nuremberg at the end of March 2020. Because there were no vacancies in Germany for the pilots stationed there, they were all transferred to airports in Italy, according to the plaintiff in the lead case Bologna (Emilia-Romagna region).

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Ryanair pilots must accept transfer to Italy

He considered the transfer invalid.

A transfer abroad is no longer covered by the employer's right to issue instructions.

Ryanair disagreed and referred to a social plan concluded with the Cockpit Association.

As in the previous instances, Ryanair was also right by the BAG.

"A limitation of the right to issue instructions to places of work in the Federal Republic of Germany cannot be inferred from the law," the Erfurt judges made clear in their reasoning.

A place of work within Germany had also not been agreed in the employment contract.

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Ryanair flight FR 2159 was supposed to take off from Nuremberg to Palma de Mallorca at around 5 p.m.

However, six men delayed the departure due to their behavior - and flew overboard.

Employment in Nuremberg no longer possible: Ryanair pilot transferred to Italy

The transfer is also not unreasonable.

After the site was closed, continued employment in Nuremberg was no longer possible - and the pilot did not indicate a preference for a specific other location.

All Nuremberg Ryanair pilots have been transferred to Italy.

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High wage losses after Italy transfer: Nuremberg Ryanair pilot complains

According to the judges, the fact that the pilot suffers high wage losses of over 50,000 euros a year does not make the transfer unreasonable either.

Because this is simply because the collective agreement agreed by the Cockpit Association with Ryanair only applies to Germany.

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