Ryanair, again...

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We have received a letter from a reader that we think deserves somewhat broader mention. Again, we are dealing with Ryanair and the business culture that more and more people write to us about. Can a business culture pose a flight safety risk?

I read about the "sandwich incident*", describing Ryanair's employees and its behaviour and hope that journalists might actually put some work into investigating conditions at among other places Ryanair's base at Rygge. Since this is their first base in Norway, Norwegian law should apply here.

Differences between employed and contracted staff
When one of their flight attendant is described as an employee, I feel this is incorrect. They are all, from captain to cabin crew, “consultants” on contracts of various kinds, and are not fixed term or permanent employees of Ryanair. The stewardess must replace the cost of the sandwich herself when the accounts do not tally. Not only that, the company's operating structure is based very much on tax evasion. As far as I know, 6 months is the maximum allowed length of contracting of work according to Norwegian labour legislation, and after that time one should be given permanent employment or the relationship terminated. Captains on a so-called "Brookfield contract" (self-employed working abroad), are forced into this form of contract. In these circumstances, neither social contributions by the employer or taxes are paid. What do the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority and the tax authorities think about this?

Not allowed in Norway
Captains as contractors are not allowed on a permanent basis in Norway, since it is believed this could compromise security. This form of social dumping thus makes the captain a dangerous person. The reason is that the captain is not an employee in the ordinary sense of the world and therefore has no social rights, employment protection or other rights. The captain must undertake a constant balancing act between aviation regulations and social security. As a contracted pilot you can be dismissed from one day to the next, by the company terminating the contract, since this is, legally speaking, a relationship between two corporate entities (company to company).

Glaring example in Norway
We have recently had one example of this in Sweden, when the company laid off all pilots and then brought them back as contracted workers. In this way there will be no social contributions for the employer to pay, which in Sweden are very high, and other social costs, to which according to Swedish law an employee is entitled. At the same time this also avoids the issue of employment protection. The issue of safety is raised when considering how the captain will reason when he has to do a "Go Around" in minimum weather conditions, or would like more fuel on board than the company has stipulated in its procedures.

Aviation Authority cannot do anything
It goes without saying that the contractors / pilots are mentally pressured by the company's operating structure and culture in stressful situations. Does the Aviation authority truly believe that the cockpit crew will alway make the right decision during a night of blizzards and slippery runways with fewer possible alternative airports?

One discrepancy leads to several discrepancies
Ryanair's manuals are tailored for security, but has little or no regard for deviations from the established standard procedure. The captain can and will, for example, press the aircraft down hard, because he departed with minimum fuel on board in order to avoid reprisals from the company. The co-pilot is either totally inexperienced, as many are, or remains passive when the captain, in an authoritarian culture like that of Ryanair, is just that - authoritarian.

Shareholder Statistics
The co-pilot also wants to become captain one day. In one glaring example, the captain has a 39OC fever, but continues to fly. He gets paid only as long as he flies, there is no sick leave or sick pay, since he is not employed. Fortunately, this landing also went well, meaning that next time it will be even easier to deviate from the procedures. And Ryanair? On time as usual. The best statistics in the industry. What does the Civil Aviation Authority think about this? Impotent as usual.

Concerned for safety
I'm worried about passenger safety. On the other hand, this situation very much skews competition, and the only value to hold true within all of Ryanair is that of the figures on the bottom line. Everything else is a lie. I hope someone takes the trouble to do some investigation about Norwegian legislation and Ryanair, in the hope that what I say here can create an open and honest debate and confirm or dement the statements made here.

Source materials
- http://airobserver.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/spanish-pilots-complain-about-ryanair-fuel-saving-practices/
- http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/news/article1343517.ece
- http://www.hangar.no/permalink/47443.html

(Editors withheld submitter's name to protect the person against reprisals from the company)

* Translator’s note: This references previous articles published on the same site relating to an incident where a passenger’s complaint regarding a sandwich served on board a Ryanair flight led to the crew calling the police to arrest him when the plane landed in Norway.

Original article: http://www.hangar.no/index.php?news=48073

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