Ryanair close to binding offer for Alitalia

Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary reacts during a news conference in Berlin, Germany. (Reuters)

LONDON: Ryanair is in the process of finalizing a binding offer for Alitalia, which will see it keep the brand’s long-haul operations, but change the fleet for short-haul routes, CEO Michael O’Leary said.
“We would have to order new planes, whether Boeing or Airbus,” O’Leary told Reuters, adding that Ryanair preferred to own its fleet, rather than lease planes, as Alitalia does.
Abu Dhabi’s state-owned Etihad Airways said in May that it was no longer willing to invest in Alitalia after the Italian carrier’s board asked to be put under special administration.
O’Leary said Ryanair hoped to preserve jobs for pilots and crew, although he warned they would have to be on new terms in line with Ryanair’s cost base.
He added that Ryanair was not interested in bidding for Air Berlin because the process was not transparent, repeating previous accusations that it was a “stitch-up” designed to make Lufthansa stronger.
He said he expected EU competition authorities would demand substantial remedies in the event that Lufthansa buys Air Berlin, with the carrier likely to have to give up slots on routes within Germany to preserve competition.
Ryanair lost an EU court battle Thursday in which the airline had sought to continue forcing a cabin crew based outside Ireland to take their disputes to Irish courts, in a case with implications across the low-cost airline sector.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg ruled in favor of cabin crew based at the Irish carrier’s Charleroi airport in Belgium on the question of which court should decide on their complaint. The employees took the airline to a local court, believing Belgian law would be more favorable to them.
Ryanair argued that Irish courts had jurisdiction over their Irish contracts. But a Belgian court in Mons had requested the ECJ’s ruling on whether its own judges had jurisdiction.
“The Court (of Justice) points out first of all that, as regards disputes related to employment contracts, the European rules concerning jurisdiction are aimed at protecting the weaker party,” the Luxembourg-based ECJ said in a statement.
“Those rules enable inter alia an employee to sue his employer before the courts which he regards as closest to this interests,” it said.
Ryanair said it welcomed the ruling for recognizing that the home base of the employee should not be the sole determinant of what court can hear disputes on labor issues.
Ryanair pilots are typically employed on contracts via third-party agencies, while easyJet uses local labor contracts.
The crew involved in the case had employment contracts drawn up under Irish law which said their work was to be regarded as being carried out in Ireland since they were working on Irish-registered aircraft.
But Charleroi airport in southern Belgium was designated as their base, meaning they started and ended their working days there and had to reside within an hour of that airport.
The Court also said that the place where the crew’s aircraft is stationed should also be taken into account when determining which court has jurisdiction.