Unlike most European airlines, including low-cost airlines, Ryanair does not provide bottled water specifically for flight attendants and pilots. This policy confirms the first rule of low-cost airlines – to save literally on everything.
However, EasyJet and Vueling, for example, provide bottled water for flight attendants. The problem is that according to post-9/11 security regulations, bottled drinks have to be thrown away to pass security checks. And, mind you, not only to passengers but also to the crew.
And after passing the pre-flight control, it is far from always possible to fill reusable bottles with drinking water.
It turns out that the flight crew does not have access to basic amenities. Such, example, as office workers with canteens, cafes, and shops.
Ryanair flight attendants often don’t even have the opportunity to go shopping at the airport, staying in the cabin for most of their working day, which can last up to 12 hours.
Well, if the Ryanair flight attendant still decides to take a bottle of “passenger” water, then he will pay for it at the prices of the in-flight store. On Ryanair, a 500 ml bottle of San Bendetto costs 3 euros.
Unions in Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain are unhappy with the pace of the promised improvement in working conditions at the airline and are threatening a series of coordinated pan-European strikes.
A French union says Ryanair has rejected its basic demand for food and water for flight attendants, and now a strike is becoming almost the only option to address the problem.
Ryanair suffered a wave of strikes in 2018 and 2019, and after that, management finally agreed to allow crew members to unionize. The airline said it plans to improve pay and working conditions by reducing the use of contract personnel and ending the practice of cabin crew paying for their training and uniforms.