Ireland’s Ryanair aims to hire another 5,000 new staff

LONDON (AP) — Irish airline Ryanair is planning to create 5,000 jobs over the next five years as part of its recovery from the shock of the coronavirus pandemic. The additional pilots, cabin crew and engineers will mean that the company will have more than recouped the 3,000 jobs it got rid of at the start of the pandemic last year. CEO Michael O’Leary said Thursday that the carrier has been snapping up slots that have been vacated by airlines that have either collapsed or retrenched over the past 18 months or so. Ryanair also upgraded forecasts for growth over the next five years. The projections are that passenger numbers will grow by 50% compared to 33% predicted previously.