The work and pensions committee and the business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS) committee sought clarification from Ryanair about the terms and conditions for all its UK-based staff at the end of last year.

This followed media reports of cabin crew contracts from Crewlink requiring staff to work additional unpaid hours, be on standby for low or no pay, and to pay for training and uniforms.

In the letter, the committee chairs state: ‘After failing to provide all the information requested and offering broad, general figures on rates of pay that contradict the contracts we have seen, Ryanair have declined to respond to any further queries from the committee.’

The airline’s initial response and promotional literature indicated pay rates of between €24,000 (£21,170) and €40,000 (£35,280), but the committee chairs say they have seen an employment agency Ryanair used offer only £14.43 per flight hour (up to a maximum of 900 hours or £12,987 per year), which they claim includes a premium for other hours and standby time that is otherwise unpaid. This would leave some cabin crew receiving less than the NMW or NLW.

The letter stated: ‘We are concerned that despite Ryanair’s weak, evidence-free assurances to the contrary, it appears that cabin crew are being paid in a confusing and opaque way, potentially designed to mask low pay and poor conditions.’

MPs want HMRC to expand its existing investigation into the pay structure for Ryanair’s pilots to include wider aspects of how the company recruits and pays its 3,500 UK staff.

The letter said: ‘We believe it is vital that potential poor employment practices are examined not only to ensure the rights of Ryanair cabin crew are protected, but also to ensure that there is no “race to the bottom” across the aviation sector.’

The committee chairs have also written in a similar vein to the new director of labour market enforcement.

The letter from the work and pensions and BEIS committees to HMRC is here.

Report by Pat Sweet