Ryanair cancelled flights: More chaos expected as pilots reject £12,000 incentive to fly on days off

Ryanair pilots have dismissed a £12,000 offer to waive days off as the budget airline bids to stop more flights being cancelled due to a staff holiday backlog.

A letter signed by the company’s pilots across Europe also reportedly warns they will begin ‘working to rule’, meaning they will not work beyond their contractual obligations.

The airline made the offer after it last weekend cancelled up to 50 flights per day for a six-week period to allow pilots to use untaken leave.

Rejection of the offer is expected to cause further chaos for customers on top of the 315,000 already affected by the move to cancel flights.

But in the draft letter, Ryanair is told the offer is “not adequate, and is being met with great resistance”.

Addressed to Ryanair chief Michael Hickey and signed by employee councils at 14 of the airline’s bases, it said “a majority” of pilots had rejected the reported offered of a £12,000 bonus.

It comes as Ryanair bosses will go head to head with shareholders today to address the crisis over pilot shortages at its AGM in Dublin.

In response to reports that pilots were roundly rejecting the cash bonus offer, a spokesman for Ryanair said: "We will address this at the AGM today."

The draft letter from employees, which is being shared widely on social media, reads: “The offer... is not an adequate offer and is being met with great resistance.”

It added: “The pilot market is changing and Ryanair will need to change the ways in which the pilots and management work together to ensure a stable and common future for everyone.”

The letter is believed to have been sent by staff councils that represent staff at company, which does not recognise trade unions.

Ryanair is facing a multi-million compensation bill for cancelled flights after it revealed it was shelving flights. It admitted it "messed up" on the over-allocation of pilots' holidays during a relatively busy period.

The bill for the compensation for passengers left stranded and forced to re-book could reach 20 million euro (£17.7 million).

But passengers have been reporting problems with the process of refunds and compensation for cancelled flights, saying information supplied by the airline is incorrect and calls are going unanswered.

Angry customers inundated Ryanair's Facebook page and many are also complaining their calls and messages through the airline's call centre and online "chat" service are going unanswered or being cut off.

The airline said it was aware of the issue and any customers who were double-charged for seats or hold luggage will be refunded.