RYANAIR GEHT VON IRELAND NACH LETTLAND

[EHAM]

MOL hat angekuendigt sein AOC und Aircraft Register komplett oder teilweise nach Riga zu verlegen !

[FrankSasse]

Ich zitiere mal einen Beitrag dazu aus dem Hahn-infos.de - Forum:

 

Ryanair looks at Latvian licence in bid to cut costs

 

Tom McEnaney

 

RYANAIR is considering transferring its aviation certificate from Ireland to Latvia in a move which experts say could reduce the ability of the company's Irish pilots and cabin crew to claim the protection of Irish employment law.

 

Ryanair's chief executive, Michael O'Leary, has confirmed that the airline is considering moving its licence, known as an Air Operator's Certificate (AOC); but said this would be a simple cost-reduction measure and would not impinge on the employment rights of its Irish staff.

 

"We are not looking at a Latvian AOC from that point of view. Employment legislation in Ireland is aimed at multinationals and there's no way we can just scuttle off to Latvia to undermine it," he said.

 

"If that were possible, I'm fairly sure that everyone (multinational) would be doing it."

 

According to Mr O'Leary, Ryanair is considering taking advantage of the fact that the Latvian authorities apply lower certification charges than those in Ireland.

 

Expert

 

"I don't think that having a Latvian AOC would affect the rights of a single pilot based here," Mr O'Leary said.

 

Jim Trueick, a partner at the law firm O'Donnell Sweeney and one of the foremost experts in Irish employment law, disagreed.

 

He said: "The more Ryanair severs its connection to Ireland the easier it is to sustain an argument that the Irish courts do not have jurisdiction in matters of employment law. The key issue here is unfair dismissal legislation, but a slew of employment law follows on from that. Under the Unfair Dismissals Act, Irish citizens who do not normally perform their duties in the State are not covered."

 

Mr O'Leary dismissed Mr Trueick's opinion as "rubbish" and said that Irish pilots and cabin crew would continue to enjoy the protection of Irish employment legislation partly because they would continue to be resident in Ireland.

 

This argument was challenged by Mr Trueick. He said: "Somebody flying an aircraft that only lands and takes off from here occasionally is not necessarily covered (by employment legislation), even if they live here."

 

He added that if Ryanair were to move its AOC to Latvia it could then arrange its affairs in such as way as to ensure its Irish pilots and cabin crew were not covered under Irish legislation.

 

Headquarters

 

Mr O'Leary said he had no intention of making any changes which would diminish the rights of Irish pilots and cabin crew. "We will continue to have our headquarters here," he said. "The pilots will continue to be based here. They will continue to pay tax here and they will continued to be covered by Irish law."

 

Ryanair has had a tumultuous relationship with its Irish pilots.

 

Last month, it secured a Supreme Court injunction to prevent the Labour Court investigating complaints by a number of Ryanair's Irish pilots pending the outcome of an appeal by the airline to a recent High Court finding.

 

Ryanair is challenging a High Court finding that the Labour Court is correct in determining that a trade dispute exists at the airline under the Industrial Relations Act, 2001. It also determined Ryanair does not bargain collectively with staff and does not have an internal dispute resolution procedure.