Irish-based pilots with Ryanair have announced that a two-day strike which could affect thousands of passengers next week.
Pilots directly employed with the airline will launch strike action on Thursday August 22 and Friday August 23, starting at a minute past midnight on Thursday.
Further strike days are due to be announced in the days to come.
The move comes after 94 percent of the 180 Ryanair pilots voted for industrial action in a dispute over pay structures working conditions and related issues.
Fórsa national secretary Angela Kirk said Ryanair pilots told her they’d been forced into industrial action by the company’s failure to offer any significant response to their proposals over a four-month period.
Ryanair has said that most flights will go ahead during the strike period.
Last night they called on pilots and Forsa to return to independent mediation in a bid to avoid the action going ahead.
Ryanair’s Chief People Officer Eddie Wilson said: “We have done everything in our power to avoid disruption to our flights and our customers’ holidays.
“No company can concede to grossly unreasonable demands from its highest paid workers for a further pay increase of over 100% (when they already agreed and received a 20% pay increase earlier this year) at a time when the airline industry is in crisis.”