So, the worst has happened, just as Ryanair said it would. The budget airline has had to cancel thousands of flights – around 50 of them, every day, for the next six weeks. It follows an ominous warning that was made by chief executive Michael O’ Leary last month:
“What is increasingly likely to happen is that there will be no flights. Mrs May and the Brexiteers will be trying to explain that to you in 12 months’ time, why getting a car to Scotland or a ferry to Ireland are the only options on offer.”
Except, that is, while last month’s warning concerned Brexit, this week’s cancellations concerned a cock-up of Ryanair’s own making. As explained on Ryanair’s Facebook page:
“We have messed up on the planning of pilot holidays and we’re working hard to fix that”.
Obviously, the fact that Ryanair has problems with scheduling its pilots’ holidays does not, of itself, mean that Brexit presents no problems for airlines.
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