As documented widely in the national news, Ryanair have opted to choose the route of mediation which has also been accepted by their pilots who have been involved with a series of recent strikes. Subsequently affecting the budget airline worldwide, with many disgruntled passengers voicing their concerns this month.

It’s thought that around 100 of Ryanair’s 350 Irish-based pilots joined colleagues in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden in recent strikes, which has seen near 400 flights cancelled, unhappy holidaymakers and a disrupted service.

These mediation talks are with an aim to resolve the long-running dispute between Ryanair and Forsa – the company that is responsible for the Irish pilots in dispute – who have been unhappy over their current pay.

Mediation, in which a neutral third party assists parties to work towards a negotiated settlement, is an increasingly popular and accepted method of resolving disagreements across the international business world –

including the aviation industry.

As an example, Ryanair and Forsa are the two parties locked in a dispute which must otherwise be fought out in litigation. As this indicates, mediation can be particularly useful where the parties wish to continue a business relationship which could be damaged by aggressive court or arbitral proceedings.

Both Ryanair and Forsa also chose to engage in the mediation process – courts do not have the power to force parties to enter into settlement negotiations.

Lux Mediation Founder Jonathan Lux is a specialist within international commercial law and mediation areas such as Aviation. As an expert in international trade, Jonathan is highly experienced in dealing with complex, high-value, multi-party cases with international jurisdictional issues.

One of the many stumbling blocks to come from International mediation can be the language barriers. However, Jonathan is a fluent English, French and German speaker. This enables him to communicate correctly in multiple forms of language, both in legal form as well as general communication to avoid misunderstanding in the often tense discussions that occur in international cases.

If you have an international commercial dispute that you are looking to resolve, please contact us where you can also find out more information into our other areas of expertise. We can explain the mediation process as well as booking a suitable date and location, wherever it may be in the world, to facilitate and mediate your dispute.