Ryanair 2016 Annual Report Download - page 114

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Ryanair’s pilots, flight attendants and maintenance and ground operations personnel undergo training, both initial
and recurrent. A substantial portion of the initial training for Ryanair’s flight attendants is devoted to safety procedures,
and cabin crew are required to undergo annual evacuation and fire drill training during their tenure with the airline. Ryanair
also provides salary increases to its engineers who complete advanced training in certain fields of aircraft maintenance.
Ryanair utilizes its own Boeing 737-800 aircraft simulators for pilot training.
IAA regulations require pilots to be licensed as commercial pilots with specific ratings for each aircraft to be
flown. In addition, IAA regulations require all commercial pilots to be medically certified as physically fit. At March 31,
2016, the average age of Ryanair’s pilots was 34 years and their average period of employment with Ryanair was 4.5 years.
Licenses and medical certification are subject to periodic re-evaluation and require recurrent training and recent flying
experience in order to be maintained. Maintenance engineers must be licensed and qualified for specific aircraft types.
Flight attendants must undergo initial and periodic competency training. Training programs are subject to approval and
monitoring by the IAA. In addition, the appointment of senior management personnel directly involved in the supervision
of flight operations, training, maintenance and aircraft inspection must be satisfactory to the IAA. Based on its experience
in managing the airline’s growth to date, management believes that there is a sufficient pool of qualified and licensed
pilots, engineers and mechanics within the EU to satisfy Ryanair’s anticipated future needs in the areas of flight operations,
maintenance and quality control and that Ryanair will not face significant difficulty in hiring and continuing to employ the
required personnel. Ryanair has also been able to satisfy its needs for additional pilots and flight attendants through the
use of contract agencies. These contract pilots and flight attendants are included in the table above.
Ryanair has a licensed approved organization in The Netherlands to operate pilot training courses using Ryanair’s
syllabus, in order to grant Boeing 737 type-ratings. Each trainee pilot must pay for his or her own training and, based on
his or her performance, he or she may be offered a position operating on Ryanair aircraft. This program enables Ryanair
to secure a continuous stream of type-rated co-pilots.
Ryanair’s crews earn productivity-based incentive payments, including a sales bonus for onboard sales for flight
attendants and payments based on the number of hours or sectors flown by pilots and flight attendants (within limits set
by industry standards or regulations governing maximum working hours). During the 2016 fiscal year, such productivity-
based incentive payments accounted for approximately 41% of an average flight attendant’s total earnings and
approximately 32% of the typical pilot’s compensation. Pilots at all of Ryanair’s 84 bases are covered by four, five or six
year collective agreements on pay, allowances and rosters which fall due for negotiation at various dates between 2017
and 2021. Cabin crew at all Ryanair bases are also party to long term collective agreements on pay, allowances and rosters
which expire in March 2021. In April 2016, Ryanair agreed to increase the pay of pilots and cabin crew in accordance with
the terms of individual base collective agreements. Ryanair’s pilots are currently subject to IAA-approved limits of 100
flight-hours per 28-day cycle and 900 flight-hours per fiscal year. For the 2016 fiscal year, the average flight-hours for
Ryanair’s pilots amounted to approximately 69 hours per month and approximately 826 hours for the complete year, a 4%
decrease on the previous fiscal year. If more stringent regulations on flight hours were to be adopted, Ryanair’s flight
personnel could experience a reduction in their total pay due to lower compensation for the number of hours or sectors
flown and Ryanair could be required to hire additional flight personnel.
Ryanair considers its relations with its employees to be good. Ryanair currently negotiates with groups of
employees, including its pilots, through “Employee Representation Committees” (“ERCs”) regarding pay, work practices
and conditions of employment, including conducting formal negotiations with these internal collective bargaining units.
Ryanair’s senior management meets regularly with the different ERCs to consult and discuss all aspects of the business
and those issues that specifically relate to each relevant employee group and where necessary to negotiate with these
collective bargaining units. Following negotiations through this ERC system, pilots and cabin crew at all Ryanair bases
are covered by long term collective agreements which provide certainty on cost, pay and conditions.
Ryanair Holdings’ shareholders have approved a number of share option plans for employees and directors.
Ryanair Holdings has also issued share options to several of its senior managers. For details of all outstanding share
options, see “Item 10. Additional Information––Options to Purchase Securities from Registrant or Subsidiaries.”