The giant European low-fare-high-fee budget airline Ryanair has reached a deal with the Irish Fórsa pilots union after a mammoth 22-hour negotiation session, the union says.
The latest talks ended at 7.30am Thursday morning and culminated a significant offer that the union will now put to its members in a ballot. It's understood the union will recommend pilots take the deal.
Forsa has been ordered to keep details of the deal under wraps, while the ballot takes place and to avoid giving ammunition to other unions in other countries that are also currently in dispute with the budget carrier.
The threat of moving jobs to other bases and the 90-day notice Ryanair put on 300 staff at Dublin are understood to have been withdrawn as part of the negotiations, but only if the current deal is accepted.
The BBC believes that the deal includes an overall agreement and a specific piece on base transfers and command upgrades, a key issue in the dispute. However, no details have been forthcoming and a Dublin pilot for the company is sceptical of any offer at this stage.
