Founded in the mid-1980s, Ryanair Airlines entered the sector following the introduction of the low-cost airline business model. The company's history and experience in following this model has led to unprecedented success, ultimately leading the company to be recognized as the largest European airline with a significant footprint in the region. In this document you will gain information about the company's history, current status and prospects for the future. However, a significant issue has emerged with the pilot shortage and what Ryanair Airlines hopes for with its future expansion efforts. Current Ryanair pilots are looking for more opportunities around the world with higher salaries and benefits, but Ryanair Airlines fails to succumb to their requests and demands. The company fails to retain qualified pilots and continues to lose them to more established airlines in Europe, causing the organization to fail to expand within the region. Additionally, I will review a wide variety of topics including the airline's fleet and route structure, employee demographics, government entities, employee certification requirements, economics, and accident history. I will also examine the company's proposal to expand operations and analyze whether this is feasible given the pilot shortage across Europe, coupled with the company's recent labor disputes. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Ryanair Airlines began operating in 1986 with a regularly scheduled service between Dublin, Ireland and London, England that offered low-cost pricing while still offering a premium service experience for all flights that included meals, free drinks and other perks not offered by competing airlines (Thomas, Ryanair: success before love, 2015). Soon after the birth of Ryanair, a price war broke out between the fledgling airline and its main competitors. Two years later the company lost £2 million and, within five years of its initial launch, was making losses of £5 million a year (Thomas, Ryanair: success before love, 2015). the premium service and price war brought the airline within hours of bankruptcy in January 1991 (Thomas, Ryanair: success before love, 2015). Recognizing that this strategy was doomed to fail, Chief Financial Officer Michael O'Leary revamped the company's vision by prioritizing expenses, not public opinion, and adopted the highly successful business strategy outlined by Southwest Airlines of 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 sector as well as being the largest European airline by number of passengers (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 aircraft with planned orders of 210 new Boeing models to increase aircraft inventory to 585 by 2024 enabling al the company will expand from 142 million customers served to 200 million annually (Ryanair, Fleet, 2019). The average age of aircraft in the Ryanair fleet is only 6.5 years and will continue to decrease with the introduction of new airframes over the coming years (Ryanair, Fleet, 2019). Airlines mainly operate on 215airports serving 37 countries across Europe and Africa (Ryanair, Fact and Figures, 2019). With over 1,800 routes supporting 2,000 flights per day, Ryanair boasts the number one position among international airlines with 130 million passengers served each year (Ryanair, Fact and Figures, 2019). The company currently employs over 16,000 people working in a variety of fields that include pilots, engineers, cabin crew and headquarters (Ryanair, Careers, 2019). Corporate Structure Ryanair Airlines is organized as a private company with shareholders who actively buy and sell shares of the company. The current ownership of the company is classified into four main shareholder categories. As of March 2018, 77.67% of holdings were held in intuitively owned accounts, 4.77% of holdings were held by insider traders, 17.56% held by the general public, and the final holding of 00.0079 % retained by private company ownership (Simply Wall Street, 2018). Regulatory guidance The Irish Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport develops and implements guidelines for aviation practices and procedures and ensures that country of origin policies comply with international standards (Department of Transport, 2019). Due to the strong 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 Organisation. The International Civil Aviation Organization was founded in 1944 and strives to achieve international consensus on flight safety and international aviation standards for 192 member states (ICAO, 2019). Certification requirements Ryanair has five categories available for pilots to obtain employment with the company; Direct Entry Captain, Direct Entry First Officer, Unrated Captain, Learjet Captains and First Officers, and Sponsored Cade Program. The standard minimum requirements for each category are: have a valid European Union passport with unrestricted rights to live and work in the European Union, under the age of 65, hold a Class 1 medical certificate issued by the EU (Part MED) valid and have a working knowledge of English at level four (Ryanair, 2019). Direct entry captains are required to have a minimum of 3,500 flight hours (800 as pilot-in-command) and 2,000 hours of experience on a multi-engine and crew aircraft weighing more than 30,000 kilograms, holding a B737 300- type rating 900 with 500 hours logged and has operated as a commander for the last 36 months (Ryanair, Ryanair Pilot Requirements, 2019). A minimum of 800 Pilot in Command (PIC) hours on a multi-crew, multi-engine jet aircraft weighing more than 30,000kg (Ryanair, Ryanair Pilot Requirements, 2019). Direct Entry First Officers have less stringent requirements than Direct Entry Captains, however, 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 flying experience on B737-300 to 900 series aircraft (Ryanair, Ryanair Pilot Requirements, 2019 ). Unrated captains must have a minimum of 3,500 total flight time, 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 transport military (Ryanair, Ryanair Pilot Requirements, 2019). In addition to this, the pilot must have a minimum of 800 hours of pilot-in-command experience on a multi-crew, multi-engine jet aircraft of the same weight listed above (Ryanair, Ryanair Pilot Requirements, 2019). Finally, iLearjet Captains and First Officers have significantly lower requirements: they require only 3,000 and 500 hours of total flight hours, respectively, and 500 and 50 hours of Pilot-in-Command experience on Learjet aircraft (Ryanair, Ryanair Pilot Requirements, 2019). Regulatory Guidelines for Airline Routes, Fares and Economics In Ireland, air carriers operating primarily within the country's borders are subject to regulations set by the Aviation Regulatory Commission (Department for Transport, 2019). The commission regulates airport charges at Dublin Airport and maintains responsibility for airport timetables and slot allocations within Ireland (Regulations, 2019). Ryanair's international flight fares and routes are regulated by the internal market of the European Union. The significance of the creation of this open market was the removal of all restrictions on all air carriers authorized by the European Union for the routes served, the number of flights and the fares charged to passengers (Department for Transport, 2019). Since its introduction, Europe has seen a significant increase in available routes and the number of available flights. Between 1992 and 2016 the available destinations went from 2,700 to 7,400; flights more than doubled, from 10,000 to 23,000 (The Blue Swan Daily, 2017). Furthermore, the creation of the European Union's internal market has opened up competition between European airlines allowing for cheaper travel (The Blue Swan Daily, 2017). Ryanair's chief executive, Michael O'Leary, has openly declared that the creation of the internal market is "the most important achievement of the EU" in the last 25 years and has "lowered airfares and allowed citizens to travel freely throughout Europe" (The blue swan newspaper, 2017). This has undoubtedly facilitated the overall success of Ryanair Airlines from its humble beginnings to becoming one of the world's leading airlines today. Fleet ownership As at 31 March 2018 Ryanair, Airlines operated 431 aircraft, of which 31 leased, representing a total number of 92.81% of owned aircraft compared to 7.19% of those leased by the company (Ryanair, Ryanair FY 2018 Annual Report, 2018). Between 2003 and 2014 Ryanair leased 75 aircraft under 7-year sales and leaseback contracts with various international companies and has since returned 45 of these aircraft to the lessor, resulting in 31 currently held as of 2018 (Ryanair, Ryanair FY 2018 Annual Report, 2018). Ryanair has the obligation 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 to date (Ryanair, Ryanair FY 2018 Annual Report, 2018). Ryanair Accidents/Incidents Following an uncontrolled engine failure resulting in the loss of one life on Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 on 17 April 2017, Ryanair Airlines has become the safest airline in the world with over a billion passengers carried without a single victim (Farrell, 2018) . Apart from a few minor maintenance issues and near-misses in flight, Ryanair has been fortunate not to have any serious incidents. The only documented accident occurred on 10 November 2008 on Ryanair Flight 4102 carrying 166 passengers and 6 crew members (Accidents, 2019). As the short final arrival at Rome Ciampino airport approached, the flight hit a flock of birds (Accidents, 2019). The crew initiated a go-around maneuver, however, having lost power due to the bird strike, the power of the two engines was not sufficient and the aircraft hit the ground violently causing significant damage to the landing gearmain sinister (Accidents, 2019). Contributing factors to the accident were ineffective countermeasures against birds implemented in and around the airport by the airport manager (Accidents, 2019). Furthermore, the pilot's decision to attempt a go-around maneuver just 7 seconds after landing due to the lack of indicators indicating that a bird strike had occurred and the crew's lack of specific training on the effects of "surprise and jolt" in the critical phases of the flight resulted in the safety of all passengers on board (Accidents, 2019). After 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 held within the borders of those countries (Harper, 2003). Further complicating the formation of unions is the fear on the part of employees that any attempt to organize could result in termination of employment without sufficient reason (Harper, 2003). Member States of the European Union have argued that Ryanair management should recognize all organizations and trade unions in all places where it employs staff (Harper, 2003). In line 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 involves a mix of staff and contract workers at each of its 60 operational bases across Europe (Coyle, 2017). The company claims that this approach results in higher wages for its employees, as well as allowing the airline to continue offering low fares to its customers (Coyle, 2017). The purpose of this business model is to bypass unions and collective bargaining agreements (Coyle, 2017). Before Christmas 2017, Ryanair executives began to relax their decades-long stance of not recognizing unions to avoid a pilots' strike that would cripple passenger travel over the holidays (The Guardian, 2019). In September 2018, Ryanair again faced the possibility of a pilots' strike in Germany, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands (Coffey, 2018). The circumstances behind the proposed strike concerned pay, however, the main driver of the strike was opposition from trade unions who "lobbied strongly for a transition from workers employed under Irish contracts and subject to Irish law to the employment laws of the own countries" (Coffey, 2018). Following the September 2018 strike which affected 250 flights and 40,000 passengers, Ryanair “signed an agreement with the German pilots' union over excessive wages and benefits (Independent, 2018). This appeared to mark the end of the strikes for the airline, however, in January 2019, the company once again found itself on the threshold of another work stoppage in Spain. Once again, Ryanair avoided a strike by signing a last-minute labor agreement between representatives of the union and the airline (Adams, 2019). Future incidents like these will continue until the airline and unions reach agreements in each country where they work. Without these agreements in place, airline customers will be at risk of canceled flights and potential loss of money from unpaid refunds. Problem Ryanair has had its ups and downs throughout its life. They always seem to bounce back, however, a more significant problem is occurring with a global pilot shortage in their midst. Expected shortages and increased demand.