The Irish Aviation Authority is continuing to investigate the demotion of a Ryanair captain after he was disciplined for refusing to operate two extra flights when he claimed to be "feeling exhausted and generally unwell".
The IAA has told the Dublin-based pilot that he did "act appropriately" in declining to undertake further flight duties last October and is continuing to examine the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The captain, who has worked with Ryanair for nine years, was demoted to the position of first officer for a six-month period following a disciplinary process.
The sanction was appealed to Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary, with the captain claiming that he did not believe the matter had been fully investigated by the airline or that he had done anything to warrant disciplinary action. According to documents seen by The Irish Times the captain operated four flights on October 5th last year. At the end of the third flight, which arrived at Gatwick, he said he felt tired but considered himself fit to operate on to Dublin.
In correspondence with Mr O'Leary, the pilot said that while he was "psychologically prepared" for the fourth flight, he did not believe he would be able to complete any additional duties were these to be requested when he landed in Dublin.
The crew had discussed the possibility of being asked to take on extra duties when they arrived in Dublin, based on past experience, and were asked to operate two extra flights that day. The captain claimed it was understood that he was unavailable and that he had filled in a special report to that effect before going home.
Mr O'Leary, who considered the captain's appeal against the sanction, said he found it difficult to "accept the bona fides" of his claim that this issue related to fatigue. Mr O'Leary said the captain had only raised the fact that he was suffering from fatigue after he returned to head office and was requested to fill out a special report form. Ryanair says the pilot failed to contact its flight operations personnel from Gatwick on the matter when he was requested to. The pilot disputes this. In his appeal, the captain claimed that he concluded from the conduct of the investigatory hearing that the reasons for his decision were not accepted. At the appeal hearing, Mr O'Leary raised doubts that the pilot could have been the victim of fatigue on that day as he was on the fifth day of flying duties following 10 days of annual leave. The captain was also operating within his daily, weekly and monthly flight-time limits, he said.
Mr O'Leary upheld the captain's demotion and said he had failed to put forward any extenuating circumstances that would allow him to exercise his discretion to reduce or rescind his demotion.
"I hope you will accept this decision in good faith and will use the next six months to ensure that such an incident never recurs and that you return quickly and speedily to your position as a captain," he stated.
The captain notified the IAA of the matter in October.