Ryanair staff to strike over threat of job losses in Spain

Cabin crew workers of the low-cost airline Ryanair have announced strike action for September over threats by the airline to close its bases at the airports of Girona, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Tenerife Sur, the English version of Spain's El Pais newspaper reported on Thursday.

Ryanair says it is considering the closures due to delays in the delivery of 135 Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes, as well as a fall in profits which have forced spending cuts.

The Irish-based airline insists the possible cutbacks were announced on July 16 in a plan which warned that underperforming bases faced either temporary or permanent closure.

Meanwhile, Ryanair's CEO Michael O'Leary commented after the company announced a fall in quarterly profits in July, that jobs would be cut at the end of September and after Christmas, arguing that the airline had an excess of over 500 pilots and around 400 cabin crew.

The Spanish labor unions USO and Sictpla argue the response in unjustified, with the General Secretary of USO-Ryanair in Spain saying "the victim playing over alleged losses is unjustifiable when it is a business that is constantly increasing its profits".

Although the date for the strike action has yet to be confirmed, Spanish workers are not the only ones taking industrial action against Ryanair.

UK-based pilots are due to strike on Aug. 22 and 23 and between Sept. 2 and Sept. 4, while Portuguese based cabin crew will strike between Aug. 21 and 25 in protest to the closure of Ryanair's base in Faro, which will see the loss of 120 jobs.