PILOTS at Ryanair are to stage a series of strikes in a dispute over pay and conditions, their union has said.
Strikes will be held from 00.01am on August 22 until 11.59pm on August 23 and from 00.01am on September 2 until 11.59pm on September 4.
Members of the British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa) voted by 4-1 to back a campaign of action on a 72 per cent turnout.
The Ryanair strike is set to pile more misery onto holidaymakers, who have already seen a British Airways IT failure throw their plans into chaos.
A union statement said the strike was the result of "decades" of Ryanair refusing to deal with unions.
Balpa said the dispute revolves around pensions, loss of license insurance, maternity benefits, allowances and a fair, transparent, and consistent pay structure.
Brian Strutton, Balpa's general secretary, said: "We have had no formal offer from Ryanair and it is imperative that we resolve this dispute urgently to avoid strike action.
"No pilot wants to spoil the public's travel plans but at the moment it seems we have no choice."
At the end of July Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary said 900 jobs were at risk at the airline because there was an "excess" number of pilots and cabin crew.
Ryanair said it was “disappointed” by the "ill-judged and ill-timed" announcement but said less than half of its pilots are Balpa members.
The airline said its UK pilots agreed a 20 per cent salary increase, with Senior Captains earning up to £180,000, which it said is more than competitors.
“This Balpa industrial action has no mandate from Ryanair pilots, is ill-timed just 10 weeks before Brexit, and will cause unnecessary disruption to customers’ holidays and travel plans,” said Ryanair.
“We have written to Balpa asking them to return to talks, and we apologise sincerely to customers for any uncertainty that Balpa ballot may cause them."
Summer of strike chaos
Brits heading abroad this summer face having their holidays ruined by a series of strikes.
Passengers travelling through Gatwick Airport this weekend are set to face travel disruption due to planned strikes.
And there are further strikes to come in August after four new dates were announced.
Over 130 security workers are involved in the industrial action over pay, which was confirmed earlier this month.
A planned two day strike by more than 4,000 workers at Heathrow was called off while staff vote on an improved pay offer, said the Unite trade union.
But the union said strikes proposed on August 23 and 24 are set to continue as planned until the result of the ballot was known.
If the two-day strike involving security guards, firefighters and engineers had taken place over both days, it would've affected 88,000 travellers, Unite estimated.
Balpa members at British Airways have also voted to take industrial action in a separate dispute over pay.
Talks between the union and the airline will be held on Thursday at the conciliation service Acas.
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