Ryanair fires chief pilot after internal disciplinary hearing

In a notice to staff on Wednesday, Ryanair’s chief people officer, Darrell Hughes, said that the chief pilot, Aidan Murray, has been let go with immediate effect.

He was fired on Tuesday evening following a disciplinary hearing last week. He had previously been suspended.

It’s understood, however, that Mr Murray has until next week to appeal the decision to terminate his employment with the carrier. He has been with Ryanair since 1995.

“We regret to advise all of you that last evening we terminated with immediate effect the employment of the Ryanair DAC chief pilot (who was appointed in 2020),” Mr Hughes said in an email to staff members on Wednesday morning.

Mr Murray’s seniority within Ryanair not only extends to the fact that he was chief pilot with Ryanair DAC. He was also the so-called nominated person for flight operations. That means he was responsible for the management and supervision of flight operations. Ryanair has about 3,000 flights a day during the summer months.

“We do not comment on queries relating to individual employees,” said Ryanair when contacted by the Irish Independent.

Ryanair is Europe’s biggest airline and had 5,860 pilots employed at the end of March last year, according to its most recent annual report.

It has continued to hire staff including pilots as it expands its fleet and network.