Carrier weighs temporary pay freezes, lower crewing ratios and more AI as half-year profit falls
Ryanair is significantly slowing its hiring of pilots and cabin crew as the budget airline reviews costs across its business ahead of an expected €2bn rise in its fuel bill next year.
"We are slowing down hiring meaningfully as the number of new pilots and cabin crew recruitment and training courses are running," chief executive Michael O'Leary said, as quoted by the Financial Times.
The move came as the Dublin-based carrier released its half-year results on 2 November, in which it signalled that pay could also come under pressure.
Referring to the expected €2bn rise in its fuel bill, O'Leary said in the results statement: "To help address this, we're reviewing all costs across Group airlines with a particular focus on airport churn negotiations (as the fuel efficient MAX-10s deliver from Spring 2027), maturing labour agreements (which may require temporary pay freezes), lower crewing ratios and increased use of AI to drive further operational and back-office/support functions productivity."
He separately said pay deals could be frozen at current levels if fuel prices remained high, according to the FT.
Airline's challenges
Ryanair reported profit after tax of €2.15bn for the six months to 30 September, down 15% from €2.54bn a year earlier. Operating costs rose 10% to €7.69bn as the price of its unhedged jet fuel, which accounts for about 20% of its needs, doubled.
Average fares fell four per cent, which the company partly attributed to consumer hesitancy and later bookings linked to the Middle East conflict. Passenger numbers rose six per cent to 125.8 million.
Labour costs have also climbed. The airline said its fuel hedging this year had helped offset significant crew pay increases under new multi-year collective labour agreements, as well as a €300m rise in EU environmental taxes and higher maintenance costs.
Ryanair has hedged 80% of its fuel for the year to March 2027 at about $67 a barrel, but only around 25% for the following year at about $95.
"It's beginning to dawn on everybody that we [the industry] are not well hedged," O'Leary said, as quoted by the FT.
He expects fares to rise by double-digit percentages next year, the FT reported. However, the company's statement said higher fares were still unlikely to fully offset the estimated €2bn increase in its fuel bill.
The airline also plans to expand its use of AI to find savings in back-office functions. O'Leary said the technology had already helped Ryanair increase capacity by four per cent.
"When you're running 650 aircraft, it's too big for a human to be able to do it," he said, according to the FT. "The machines actually can design the schedules better than we know [how to], so we're getting more productivity out of the aircraft".
Ryanair has already cut its passenger target for the year to March 2027 from 216 million to 214 million. It plans to grow traffic to more than 220 million passengers next year.
