Ryanair Holdings Plc will offer direct employment to some German pilots currently working under contract, as a recruitment specialist ends its services for the discount carrier in the country... 

The switch may help pave the way for a unionization deal between the Dublin-based airline and its German pilots after they staged the first strike in the company’s history on Dec. 22. The four-hour stoppage was called after a breakdown in talks with the Vereinigung Cockpit labor group over the transition to collective bargaining.

Vereinigung Cockpit is aware of the McGinley letter, and the change to direct contracts is a welcome development, though tax implications need to be clarified, the union’s international relations officer James Phillips said...

Germany, where about half of Ryanair’s pilots are outside contractors, has remained a thorn in the carrier’s side after it secured labor accords in markets including the U.K. and Ireland. Chief Executive Officer Michael O’Leary has been forced to drop a longstanding anti-union stance after staff gained bargaining power following a rostering mixup that led 20,000 flights to be scrapped.