Ryanair's Dublin pilots vote for strike action

Ryanair pilots in Dublin have voted for strike action, the airline confirmed Monday, the latest in a succession of staffing woes for the no-frills carrier.

The unspecified industrial action was backed by less than 28 percent of around 300 pilots based in the Irish capital for Ryanair, the airline told AFP.

Ryanair added that it had not received formal notification of a strike, and no date for the walkout has been announced.

Although the airline has around 300 pilots based in Dublin, Irish broadcaster RTE said the strike ballot was issued to the 84 pilots directly employed by Ryanair.

A significant number of Ryanair pilots are employed indirectly through other companies.

Of those directly employed by the airline, most voted in favour of a strike action over employment rights, according to RTE.

The move comes less than a week after Ryanair pilots and flight attendants in Italy announced a four-hour strike for December 15.

Cabin crew and pilots threw their support behind a strike after the airline declined to open negotiations over labour contracts, the ANPAC union told AFP on Wednesday.

The planned industrial action comes after Ryanair said in September that it had to cancel 20,000 flights until March because of pilot scheduling problems.

Air traffic control delays and weather disruption also contributed to the cancellations.

Despite such difficulties, Ryanair said last month it still expected to deliver annual profit after tax of 1.4 billion to 1.45 billion euros ($1.65 billion and $1.71 billion).

© 2017 AFP