Hundreds of pilots have sued Ryanair, claiming they are owed holiday pay by the airline.A former pilot for the carrier, Richard Phillips, filed the lawsuit in London’s Commercial Court last week, alongside a further 261 claimants. The claim also names recruitment agencies Storm Global and Brookfield Aviation International, as well as tax consultancy Scanlon Associates, as defendants. Ryanair has used contractor pilots hired through agencies to support its full-time staff. The carrier has argued it did not need to pay these pilots sick pay or holiday pay, since they are not employees of the company, The Telegraph reported. A total of 262 pilots have filed a lawsuit against Ryanair, claiming they are owed holiday payHowever, last year the Court of Appeal ruled that Ryanair pilot Jason Lutz was employed by the airline while flying for it, rather than being self-employed. The firm representing the pilots in this summer’s lawsuit, Claims Compensation Group (CCG), said this means the previously used defence is not viable in this case.The CCG website says: ‘Airline pilots engaged via agencies are workers in law – entitled to holiday pay, pension contributions and statutory protections their engagers have rarely honoured.’We are acting for pilots who were engaged by Ryanair via agencies, and claiming workers’ rights for the entire period of engagement. ‘If you have flown for Ryanair (or another carrier) as an agency-engaged pilot, you may have been underpaid.’The case comes after Ryanair faced similar legal challenges across Europe. ‘On 21 January 2026 the Berlin-Brandenburg State Social Court ruled that Ryanair pilots at German bases are employees subject to social security contributions,’ CCG said. The budget airline has hired contractor pilots in order to top up its workforceSimilarly, in Spain, a court found in favour of Captain Ian Charles Kenyon in a dismissal case against Ryanair DAC, Brookfield Aviation International, MCG Aviation (now known as Storm Global) and Elise Aviation. The firm also explains that a previous Supreme Court ruling ‘held that Uber drivers were workers and not self-employed contractors – and so were entitled to workers’ rights including holiday pay.”As a result, the same logic must apply ‘across other agency-engaged workforces’. The Daily Mail has contacted Ryanair, Storm Global, Brookfield Aviation International and Scanlon Associates for comment.