Ryanair has offered its pilots up to £12,000 to give up their annual leave in order to avoid cancelling more flights.

The offer comes as Ryanair pilots across Europe meet to discuss possible industrial action.

The airline announced last week that it was forced to cancel up to 50 flights a day until the end of October after it 'messed up' annual leave allocations.

It has since emailed pilots requesting 'one or two blocks of five days' from everyone who has already been assigned their month in exchange for a bonus payment.

It said the move was necessary off to avoid making further cancellations.

In the email from Ryanair's chief operations officer Michael Hickey, pilots are told that pilots must remain with the airline until next year in order to get the bonus.

It says those who remain with Ryanair until the end of October 2018 will received a one-off bonus of £12,000 for captains and £6,000 for first officers, which will be paid in November next year.

However, the Irish Air Line Pilots' Association (IALPA) yesterday emphasised the importance of pilot leave to reduce fatigue.

"European Regulations Flight Time limit (FTL) control the amount of time crew can fly so as to avoid fatigue both 'on the day' and cumulatively. In the case of pilots, the limits are 100 hours in 28 days or 900 hours per calendar year," it said in a statement.

IALPA has also queried Ryanair's claims that it was forced to cancel flights after changes to regulations regarding pilots' leave, saying the airline had two years' notice of the new rules.

Courtesy of Travelmole