Essex MEP Alex Mayer will speak out about Ryanair employment practices in the European Parliament.

Despite suffering a £22 million blow in the wake of its flight cancellation fiasco, the company’s half-year profits are still up by 11 per cent. Pre-tax profits climbed to £1.139 billion for the six months ending in September.

The Euro MP says she fears that Ryanair bosses correctly calculated that public anger would quickly dissipate but the misery for pilots continues.

Ms Mayer who met Ryanair pilots at Stansted will tell the Parliament they told her of a “climate of fear.” She said “If you’ve got a house near Stansted and children in local schools the threat of being moved to a far flung base if you speak out can be paralysing.”

She will also raise safety concerns. Pilots told the Euro MP that because they are self employed they don’t get sick pay, so they turn up to work feeling ill. “How safe is this?” she asked.

She said: “We cannot allow Ryanair to fly-out of the news agenda so quickly, they need a turbulent ride until they end these employment practices which are unfair and wrong.”