Established in the mid-1980s, Ryanair Airlines entered the industry following the introduction of the low-cost airline business model. The company's history and model experience resulted in unprecedented success, ultimately leading the company to be recognized as Europe's largest airline with a significant footprint in the region. Throughout this article, you will learn about the history of the company, its current state and its future prospects. However, a significant problem has emerged with the pilot shortage and what Ryanair Airlines is hoping for with its future expansion efforts. Current Ryanair pilots are looking for bigger opportunities across the world, with higher salaries and benefits, but Ryanair Airlines is failing to succumb to their demands and demands. The company fails to retain its qualified pilots and continues to lose them to stronger airlines in Europe, preventing the organization from expanding in the region. Additionally, I will examine a wide variety of topics including the airline's aircraft fleet and route structure, employee demographics, government agencies, employee certification requirements, economics and accident history. I will also review the company's proposal to expand its operations and analyze whether this is feasible due to the pilot shortage across Europe coupled with the company's recent labor disputes. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get the original essay Ryanair Airlines began operations in 1986 with a scheduled service between Dublin, Ireland and London, England, which offered low fares while by offering a premium service. experience for all flights including free meals, drinks and other benefits that were not offered by competing airlines (Thomas, Ryanair: Success Before Love, 2015). Shortly after Ryanair was founded, a price war ensued between the young airline and its main competitors. Two years later the company lost £2 million and, five years after its initial launch, it was making annual losses of £5 million (Thomas, Ryanair: Success Before Love, 2015). The high cost of service and the price war led the airline to find itself within hours of bankruptcy in January 1991 (Thomas, Ryanair: success before love, 2015). Recognizing that this strategy was doomed to failure, CFO Michael O'Leary reorganized the company's vision by prioritizing spending, not public opinion, and adopted the very success presented by Southwest Airlines, namely a low-cost, no-frills business model (Thomas, Ryanair: Success Before Love, 2015). The change resulted in low public opinion of the airline among its customers; however, profits are high and the company has become one of the most profitable airlines in the industry as well as the largest European airline in terms of passenger numbers (Thomas, Ryanair: Success Before Love, 2015) . Ryanair Fleet, Route Structure and Number of Employees Currently, Ryanair operates a fleet of over 450 aircraft comprising Boeing 737-800 series with planned orders for 210 new Boeing models to increase aircraft inventory to 585 by 2024, allowing the company to increase from 142 million customers served to 200 million per year (Ryanair, Fleet, 2019).The average aircraft in the Ryanair fleet is only 6.5 years old and this figure will continue to decrease as new airframes are introduced in the coming years (Ryanair, Fleet, 2019). The airlines primarily operate at 215 airports serving 37 countries across Europe and Africa (Ryanair, Fact and Figures, 2019). With over 1,800 routes providing 2,000 daily flights, Ryanair prides itself on being the leading international airline with 130 million passengers served each year (Ryanair, Fact and Figures, 2019). The company currently employs over 16,000 people working in various areas including pilots, engineers, cabin crew and head office (Ryanair, Careers, 2019). Company Structure Ryanair Airlines is organized as a private company whose shareholders actively buy and sell shares of the company. The company's current ownership is classified into four broad shareholding categories. As of March 2018, 77.67% of the stakes were held in intuitive ownership accounts, 4.77% of the stakes were held by insiders, 17.56% were held by the general public, and the final stake was 00.0079%. was owned by private companies (Simply Wall Street). , 2018). Regulatory guidance The Irish Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport develops and implements guidance for aviation practices and procedures and ensures that home country policies are consistent with international standards (Department of Transport, 2019) . Due to the high dispersion of Ryanair's footprint across Europe. Ryanair must also comply with the laws and regulations of the European Union and the International Civil Aviation Organization. The International Civil Aviation Organization was established in 1944 and strives to achieve international consensus on flight safety and international aviation standards for 192 member states (ICAO, 2019). Certification Requirements Ryanair offers five categories for pilots seeking employment with the company: Direct Entry Captain, Direct Entry First Officer, Unclassified Captain, Learjet Captains and First Officers, and Sponsored Cadet Program. The standard minimum requirements for each category are to have a valid European Union passport with unlimited right to live and work in the European Union, under the age of 65, to hold a medical certificate of valid Class 1 issued by the EU (Part-MED) and have level four operational English proficiency (Ryanair, 2019). Direct entry captains must have at least 3,500 flight hours (800 as pilot flying) and 2,000 hours of experience on a multi-crew, multi-engine aircraft weighing more than 30,000 kilograms, hold a qualification type B737 300-900 with 500 hours logged and operated as captain in the last 36 months (Ryanair, Ryanair Pilot Requirements, 2019). Minimum of 800 pilot in command (PIC) hours on a multi-crew, multi-engine jet aircraft weighing more than 30,000 kg (Ryanair, Ryanair Pilot Requirements, 2019). Direct-entry co-pilots have less stringent requirements than direct-entry captains, but they are still required to meet minimum standards. These include a minimum of 1,200 hours of total flight time, including a minimum of 1,000 hours on a CS25 type aircraft, and 800 hours of flight experience on B737-300 to 900 aircraft (Ryanair, Ryanair Pilot Requirements , 2019). Unqualified captains must have a minimum of 3,500 total flight hours, including 2,000 on multi-crew, multi-engine jet aircraft weighing more than 30,000 kilograms with an established airline, cargo operator,private operator or military transport. (Ryanair, Ryanair Pilot Requirements, 2019). In addition to this, the pilot must have at least 800 hours of pilot experience flying a multi-crew, multi-engine jet aircraft of the same weight listed above (Ryanair, Ryanair Pilot Requirements, 2019). Finally, Learjet captains and co-pilots have far fewer requirements, needing only 3,000 hours and 500 hours of total flight hours respectively, and 500 and 50 hours of pilot experience at the orders on Learjet aircraft (Ryanair, Ryanair Pilot Requirements, 2019). Regulatory guidance on air routes, pricing and economics In Ireland, air carriers that operate primarily within the country's boundaries are subject to regulations set out by the Aviation Regulatory Commission (Department of Transport, 2019 ). The Commission regulates airport charges at Dublin Airport and remains responsible for the airport timetable and slot allocation throughout Ireland (Regulations, 2019). Ryanair international flight prices and routes are regulated by the European Union internal market. The importance of creating this open market lies in the removal of all restrictions imposed on all air carriers approved by the European Union with regard to the routes served, the number of flights and the fares charged to passengers (Department of Transport, 2019). Since its introduction, Europe has seen a significant increase in available routes and number of flights available. Between 1992 and 2016, the available destinations increased from 2,700 to 7,400; flights more than doubled from 10,000 to 23,000 (The Blue Swan Daily, 2017). Additionally, the creation of the European Union internal market opened up competition between European airlines, allowing for cheaper travel (The Blue Swan Daily, 2017). Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary has openly stated that the establishment of the internal market is "the EU's most remarkable achievement" over the past 25 years and has "reduced airfares and enabled citizens to travel freely throughout Europe” (Le Cygne Bleu Quotidien, 2017). This has undoubtedly facilitated the overall success of Ryanair Airlines from its humble beginnings to being one of the leading airlines in the world today. Fleet ownership As of March 31, 2018, Ryanair airlines operated 431 aircraft, of which 31 were leased, representing a total number of 92.81% of aircraft owned compared to 7.19% leased by the company (Ryanair, Ryanair FY 2018 Annual Report, 2018). Between 2003 and 2014, Ryanair leased 75 aircraft under 7-year leaseback agreements with several international companies and has since returned 45 of these aircraft to the lessor, bringing the total to 31 currently owned as of 2018 (Ryanair, Ryanair FY 2018 Annual Report, 2018). Ryanair is obligated to purchase the remaining leased aircraft, but retains the option to extend the lease on 15 of the 31 and has exercised this right on 10 so far (Ryanair, Ryanair FY 2018 Annual Report, 2018). Ryanair Accidents/Incidents Following an uncontained engine failure that resulted in the loss of a life on Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 on April 17, 2017, Ryanair Airlines became the safest airline in the world, having carried over a billion passengers without a single fatality (Farrell, 2018). . Aside from some minor maintenance issues and in-flight near misses, Ryanair has been fortunate not to have any major accidents. The only documented incident occurred on November 10, 2008 on Ryanair Flight 4102, which carried 166 passengers and 6 crew members(Accidents, 2019). As it approached short final for its arrival at Rome Ciampino Airport, the flight struck a flock of birds (Accidents, 2019). The crew began a go-around maneuver, but after losing power due to a bird strike, both engines had insufficient power and the aircraft hit the ground hard, causing resulted in significant damage to the left main landing gear (Accidents, 2019). Contributing factors to the accident were ineffective bird control measures put in place on and around the airport by the airport manager (Accidents, 2019). Additionally, the pilot's decision to attempt a go-around only 7 seconds after landing due to the absence of indicators indicating that a bird strike had occurred and the lack of specific training of the crew on the effects of “surprise and surprise” in critical phases of the flight resulted in the safety of all passengers on board (Accidents, 2019). Following the accident, the crew and passengers disembarked from the aircraft without further incident. Workers and Unions Ryanair Airlines operates in 14 countries across Europe and does not officially recognize any workers' unions organized within the borders of these countries (Harper, 2003). Employees' fear that any attempt to unionize could result in dismissal without sufficient cause further complicates the formation of unions (Harper, 2003). Member states of the European Union have advocated that Ryanair executives recognize all organizations and unions at all sites where it employs staff (Harper, 2003). In keeping with the airline's no-frills business model, the company has chosen to negotiate workers' rights differently in an effort to continue to keep operating costs low. The approach is a mix of staff and contractors in each of its 60 operational bases across Europe (Coyle, 2017). The company claims that this approach results in higher wages for its employees and allows the airline to continue offering low fares to its customers (Coyle, 2017). The design of this business model involves bypassing unions and collective agreements (Coyle, 2017). Before Christmas 2017, Ryanair executives began to soften their decades-old stance of not recognizing unions to avoid a pilot strike that would have crippled passenger travel over the holidays (The Guardian, 2019). In September 2018, Ryanair again faced the possibility of a pilot strike in Germany, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands (Coffey, 2018). The circumstances behind the proposed strike concerned wages, but the main factor in the strike was opposition from trade unions "who were lobbying most strongly for a transition from workers employed under Irish contracts and subject to Irish legislation to the labor laws of their own country” (Coffey, 2018). Following the September 2018 strike which affected 250 flights and 40,000 passengers, Ryanair “signed an agreement with the German pilots' union on salaries and benefits (Independent, 2018). This appeared to mark the end of strikes for the airline, but in January 2019 the company once again found itself on the brink of another work stoppage in Spain. Once again, Ryanair avoided a strike thanks to the last-minute signing of a labor agreement between union and airline representatives (Adams, 2019). Future incidents like these will continue until the airline and unions reach agreements in each country.