Six Ryanair cabin crew members were fired after posing for a photo that showed them sleeping on the floor of an airport in Spain last month.
Last month, a photo of a few crew members lying on the floor of the Málaga Airport in Spain went viral on social media. The picture also appeared on the Facebook group “Ryanair MUST Change” with a caption stating, “This is Porto crew last night stranded on the floor of Málaga crew room. They were diverted due to the storm and the company left them there.”
“All 6 cabin crew members in Porto were dismissed on [Monday, Nov. 5] for breach of contract on grounds of gross misconduct, after staging a fake photograph to support a false claim that they were ‘forced to sleep on the floor’ of the Málaga crew room, which was behavior which damaged their employer’s reputation and caused an irreparable breach of trust with these 6 persons,” Ryanair told in a statement.
Portuguese airline union SNPVAC, which represents the crew, said in a statement at the time that the crew members were “placed in a room, without the minimum rest facilities.” However, the union confirmed that the staff was moved to a VIP lounge.