Ryanair Penalized Striking Pilots and Unlawfully Used a Blacklist, UK Courts Rule

Summary

Ryanair was found to have unlawfully used a prohibited blacklist after identifying UK pilots who participated in lawful industrial action and withdrawing their staff travel benefits for 12 months. The dispute involved Ryanair pilots represented by the British Airline Pilots' Association (BALPA), a recognized trade union representing Ryanair pilots in the United Kingdom. In August 2019, BALPA notified Ryanair of planned strike action. Ryanair attempted to obtain an injunction preventing the strikes, but the High Court refused the application. On 16 September 2019, Ryanair informed its UK-based pilots that anyone participating in strike action that month would lose their discretionary staff travel privileges for 12 months. UK Supreme Court – Morais and others v Ryanair DAC: https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/uksc-2025-0027 The pilots subsequently participated in strike action on 18 and/or 19 September 2019. Ryanair kept records identifying pilots who were absent from their rostered duties because they participated in the strike. It then used those records to identify the pilots whose travel privileges would be withdrawn. The sanctions were substantial. Affected pilots lost access to Ryanair's staff travel booking system, existing concessionary travel bookings were cancelled, and they were prohibited from using staff travel privileges for approximately one year. Ryanair also warned affected pilots that attempting to use the withdrawn travel privileges could constitute a serious disciplinary matter potentially resulting in sanctions up to and including dismissal. The pilots brought proceedings against Ryanair, arguing that the company had subjected them to detrimental treatment because they participated in trade-union activities and that Ryanair's record identifying strike participants constituted a prohibited blacklist under the Employment Relations Act 1999 (Blacklists) Regulations 2010. UK Courts and Tribunals Judiciary – Morais & Others v Ryanair: https://www.judiciary.uk/live-hearings/morais-ors-respondents-v-ryanair-dac-appellant/ The litigation ultimately focused on an important question of UK employment law: whether participating in industrial action constituted taking part in the activities of a trade union for purposes of the Blacklisting Regulations. The Employment Tribunal found for the pilots on the Blacklisting Regulations issue. Ryanair appealed, but the Employment Appeal Tribunal also found for the pilots. Ryanair subsequently took the dispute to the Court of Appeal, which again ruled in favor of the pilots on the blacklisting issue. The courts concluded that participation in industrial action could constitute participation in trade-union activities for purposes of the Blacklisting Regulations. Ryanair's record of pilots participating in the strike and its subsequent use of that information to remove their travel benefits therefore fell within the statutory protections against blacklisting. The Court of Appeal judgment explains that the affected pilots were Ryanair employees and BALPA members and that Ryanair had recognized BALPA for collective bargaining concerning matters including pay, hours and holidays. Ryanair's own employment arrangements provided employees with concessionary travel benefits. After the September 2019 strike, those privileges were removed from participating pilots for approximately one year. Court of Appeal judgment – Ryanair DAC v Morais: https://www.iclr.co.uk/document/2021005130/2025ewcaciv19_TNA/html Ryanair continued challenging the finding and sought permission to take the case to the UK Supreme Court. On 4 June 2025, Supreme Court justices Lord Reed, Lord Hamblen and Lady Simler refused Ryanair permission to appeal. The Supreme Court stated that Ryanair's application “does not raise an arguable point of law.” The refusal left intact the lower-court determination in favor of the pilots on the Blacklisting Regulations issue. UK Supreme Court – permission to appeal decision: https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/uksc-2025-0027 Company position: Ryanair contested the pilots' claims through multiple levels of the UK court system. A central part of its legal challenge concerned whether participation in industrial action legally constituted participation in trade-union activities for purposes of the Blacklisting Regulations. Ryanair ultimately sought Supreme Court review of the adverse interpretation, but permission to appeal was refused. The litigation also originally included a separate claim under section 146 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. Following the UK Supreme Court's decision in a different case, Mercer v Secretary of State for Business and Trade, the parties agreed to dismiss that particular issue. This did not eliminate the pilots' successful Blacklisting Regulations claim, which remained the subject of Ryanair's unsuccessful attempt to obtain Supreme Court review. Key facts: BALPA announced industrial action involving Ryanair pilots in 2019; Ryanair warned UK pilots that participating in the September strike would result in withdrawal of staff travel privileges for 12 months; pilots participated in strikes on 18 and/or 19 September 2019; Ryanair recorded which pilots participated; those records were used to determine whose travel privileges would be withdrawn; affected pilots had existing bookings cancelled and access to staff travel suspended; Ryanair warned that attempts to circumvent the restriction could lead to disciplinary action up to dismissal; the Employment Tribunal, Employment Appeal Tribunal and Court of Appeal found for the pilots on the Blacklisting Regulations issue; and on 4 June 2025, the UK Supreme Court refused Ryanair permission to appeal because the application did not raise an arguable point of law. The case is significant because Ryanair did not merely express opposition to a strike. It identified employees who participated in industrial action and then used that information to impose a year-long employment-related disadvantage on those workers. The resulting litigation established that the conduct fell within UK protections against prohibited trade-union blacklisting. It provides a second, independently documented worker-rights case against Ryanair, separate from the Spanish litigation concerning cabin crew and strike rights.