Ryanair pilots demand right to refuse Israel flights over safety

Some Ryanair Holdings Plc pilots have asked the airline for the right to turn down flights to Tel Aviv as concerns grow about flying to the country during the war.

Two pilot organizations, Germany’s Vereinigung Cockpit and the Ryanair Transnational Pilot Group, have asked Ryanair to review the crewing policy for Israel flights. The approach would better match what’s in place at other airlines such as Deutsche Lufthansa AG and EasyJet Plc, the RTPG wrote in a letter to Ryanair in early June.

Airlines have taken different approaches to flying to the Middle East after the Israel-Hamas conflict intensified in October. EasyJet paused services to Israel until October while Wizz Air Holdings Plc, British Airways and Air France-KLM resumed flights earlier this year. Ryanair restarted Tel Aviv flights in June following the reopening of the airport’s low-cost terminal. Israel’s airspace remains open after closing in April.

The VC, a German union representing almost 10,000 members, wrote an open letter to Ryanair last week supporting the RTPG’s earlier letter about the navigational and security concerns around flying to Israel and Jordan. Both organizations have called on Ryanair to implement a “comprehensive daily risk assessment” to allow crews to decide whether they should fly to destinations in conflict zones.

“Whether a deployment to Tel Aviv is accepted should be decided by the pilots themselves due to the situation in the Middle East and the resulting restrictions and mental stress,” the VC said in a statement. 

Ryanair declined to comment. A spokesman for the VC said in an email that Ryanair responded to the union’s letter but declined to disclose its contents. The union hasn’t seen any indication that Ryanair will change its practices, the spokesman said. 

“Ryanair needs to be aware that by simply ignoring the problem, it will not disappear,” the spokesman said.