Cabin crew strikes might prove a nightmare for those travelling with Ryanair

Politico: Europe’s summer heatwave could prove a nightmare for those flying Ryanair.

Pilots are striking Thursday in Ryanair’s home country of Ireland after the airline failed to shut down a Continent-wide rebellion of unhappy cabin crew and pilot unions. It’s the first in a series of actions threatened during the airline’s most lucrative period that could disrupt the travel plans of tens of thousands of holidaymakers.

Up next are strikes by cabin crew in Belgium, Spain, Portugal and Italy scheduled for July 25 and 26, and German pilots will conclude their vote on whether to strike by the end of the month.

The airline scheduled last-ditch talks with Irish pilots on Wednesday in an attempt to stop the protest, but the union promised ahead of the meeting to go ahead anyway.

The airline runs 2,000 flights a day on average and carried 12.6 million passengers in June alone. The number of cancellations will depend on the extent of the action and Ryanair’s ability to move planes or crew from elsewhere. The airline is desperate to avoid a repeat of a scheduling fiasco last year that led to 20,000 canceled flights.