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Ryanair is also not spared from the air crisis caused by the coronavirus and today it has announced the dismissal of 3,000 workers , about 15% of its workforce, to keep the company afloat as of July 1. Its executive director, the Irishman Michael O'Leary , has also assured that they are considering closing some of the bases they have spread across Europe until the situation improves, something that, according to their forecasts, will not occur until March of next year . Meanwhile, he has branded some of his competitors as Lufthansa, Air France or Alitalia as " junkies of state aid that scamper around Europe, sucking up all the aid they can."

The difficulties they are going through also cause, according to the CEO, that by having fewer staff due to temporary layoffs, they are having difficulty meeting all the accumulated cancellation refund requests. This, according to O'Leary, could take up to six months for his clients to receive their money , but "if you want it back, it will be returned." During this crisis Ryanair has also offered instant coupons or exchanges for flights of similar conditions.

That restructuring, however, will fundamentally affect pilots and cabin staff , although the rest of the employees will also suffer salary cuts of up to 20%, which ensures that they are "the minimum measures to survive for the next 12 months." In fact, in an interview this morning with the BBC, he has dropped that "we may have to announce more and larger cuts in the future."

These 3,000 layoffs, however, will become official on July 1, when the government's aid ends, and it guarantees that the temporarily fired workers continue to maintain 80% of their wages, up to a maximum of around 2,800 euros. Meanwhile, O'Leary himself has already announced that he would halve his salary during the months of April and May, a measure that will extend until March 2021, the date on which the fiscal year that has just opened ends.

Despite having reserves of around 4,000 million euros that will allow them to withstand part of the impact of the crisis, during this first quarter of 2020 the Irish predicts losses of around 100 million euros , a figure that is surely very lower than the next because of the practically total paralysis of the heavens in Europe. This, therefore, may lead the company to consider temporarily closing some of its bases across the continent, although during the interview with the British media, it refused to give clues as to which ones are currently most at risk.

Precisely in terms of competition in the European skies, the Irish businessman once again brought out his most controversial character, assuring that they will have difficulties to face the airlines "that are financed low cost thanks to illegal state aid of more than 30,000 million euros, something that clearly breaks the competition laws set by the EU. " With this accusation, he has directly targeted companies such as Lufthansa, Air France or Alitalia , which he calls "junkies of state aid that scamper around Europe, sucking up all the help they can."

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