A group of more than 260 pilots has filed a group lawsuit against Ryanair, alleging the airline owes them unpaid holiday pay. The claim, submitted last month to the Commercial Court in London, is led by Richard Phillips, a former Ryanair pilot who worked for the airline until 2012 before joining British Airways.

The case also names two aviation recruitment agencies, Storm Global and Brookfield Aviation International, and a Dublin-based tax consultancy, Scanlon Associates, as defendants. The dispute centers on Ryanair’s practice of hiring pilots through these agencies rather than employing them directly. Under this arrangement, Ryanair has maintained it was not required to provide benefits such as holiday or sick pay, arguing the pilots were contractors rather than employees.

However, the claim builds on a 2025 Court of Appeal ruling involving a Ryanair pilot, Jason Lutz, which found that pilots working under agency contracts could be classified as “workers,” rather than self-employed contractors, while performing their duties for the airline. In that case, Lutz had sought direct employment with Ryanair but was instead offered a fixed-term agency contract. The court held that such contracts, subject to statutory worker protections under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010, entitled contractors to rights including holiday pay after 12 weeks of engagement.

Legal representatives for the claimants argue that the Lutz decision effectively ended Ryanair’s agency defense and affirmed that pilots engaged through agencies are entitled to worker rights retroactively, including backdated holiday pay and pension contributions. The law firm Claims Compensation Group (CCG), which is handling the case, has encouraged other pilots hired through agencies by Ryanair or other airlines to come forward, suggesting there may be a broader issue of underpayment within the aviation sector.

Ryanair sought permission to appeal the Court of Appeal’s ruling to the UK Supreme Court but was refused, making the decision binding. CCG notes this precedent is significant given previous cases, such as the 2021 Supreme Court ruling that recognized Uber drivers as workers rather than independent contractors, thereby entitling them to certain employment rights.

As of early August 2026, no defense filings have been registered on behalf of Ryanair or the other named defendants, and none have publicly commented on the ongoing litigation. The exact financial value of the claim remains undisclosed.

This lawsuit highlights ongoing legal debates about employment status in sectors relying heavily on contract labor, with particular scrutiny on companies that use agency arrangements to engage workers while limiting traditional employee benefits.