Ryanair warns hundreds of jobs are to be cut because the airline has ‘too many staff’

RYANAIR staff have been warned to prepare for job losses after boss Michael O’Leary said the airline has 900 more pilots and cabin crew than needed.

Redundancies will be announced by the end of August, revealed O’Leary in a video message to workers.

O’Leary blamed the grounding of the airline’s Boeing 737 Max fleet, higher oil prices, and Brexit uncertainty for falling profits.

“It’s been a challenging summer, we’re facing into a very difficult winter,

“I’m sorry to advise you that this means we need to cut our aircraft numbers and our staffing, not just for summer 2020 but also in winter 2019.

“This will result in some base cuts, some base closures, and I’m very sorry to say, some job losses this winter for pilots and cabin crew, at the end of our summer schedule in September and October, and also some immediately after Christmas, ” said the Ryanair boss.

The 737 Max had been grounded over software concerns following two deadly crashes.

This move has had a big impact on the budget airline’s profits, according to O’Leary.

He also blamed the ‘increasing likelihood of a no-deal Brexit in just 12 weeks’ time.’

The 54-year-old billionaire added his airline would do all it could to minimise the job losses and was in talks with unions.