Ryanair bosses 'don't treat crew like humans': Air stewardess reveals how she was forced to sell more snacks to be closer to her ill grandmother as staff tell of their appalling treatment

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Giulia asked to be moved from her base in Sicily to nearer her home town of Pisa when it became clear her relative was seriously unwell

Dozens of stewards contacted the Daily Mail after we revealed how they are ruthlessly exploited by the budget airline.

They described gruelling working conditions and extraordinary tactics used to pressurise passengers into buying as much as possible during flights.

One said that on one day he worked for eight hours but was paid for only two. Another said she earned less than £500 in a month. 

Others were repeatedly put on standby at the airport, in eight-hour shifts for which they are paid £30, or £3.75 per hour – less than half the minimum wage.

Theresa May yesterday said there were 'no excuses' for underpaying staff, and employees should report bosses if they believe they have been paid below minimum wage.

Last night, many Ryanair stewards claimed bosses 'don't treat us like humans'. 

They revealed staff are told to keep passengers awake with lights and loud announcements to maximise sales.

Some said they were threatened with relocation away from their families if they did not sell enough. 

One stewardess was told she would be moved to her home country to be with her daughter only if she sold more Pringles crisps. 

Others said they were made to put 'sales before safety', with staff pitted against each for the most commission.

Mail investigation: Ryanair cabin crew instructor Dorota Sowinska (pictured) was training new recruits at one of the centres

The Hahn Training Centre (pictured) is on an isolated former airbase, with dozens of derelict barracks

An exhausted crew member said it was possible to work an eight-hour shift on board an aircraft but be paid for only two hours 

Another worker, who was based in Dublin until earlier this year and is now working for another airline, said: 'It was like a small North Korea. It is modern-day slavery and they should be ashamed of themselves.'

Yesterday, the Mail revealed thousands of Ryanair's agency cabin crew earn money only when in the air and on commission for in-flight sales. This means all time cleaning planes and boarding passengers is unpaid.

An undercover Mail reporter was taken on as a trainee by Crewlink, one of two firms that hire some of the airline's 8,000 stewards.

WHISTLEBLOWER ACCUSED OF 'FALSE CLAIMS' BY AIRLINE  

Sophie Growcoot, now 25, felt so passionately about the alleged exploitation of young workers that she contacted Luciana Berger, her local MP for Liverpool Wavertree

A flight attendant was accused by agency bosses of making 'false claims' when she blew the whistle four years ago.

Sophie Growcoot, now 25, felt so passionately about the alleged exploitation of young workers that she contacted Luciana Berger, her local MP for Liverpool Wavertree.

Miss Growcoot said cabin crew were only paid for time in the air and could be forced to take up to three months unpaid leave from work each year.

She also discussed the monthly fees deducted from wages for uniforms, fees for leaving the job and having to pay for a mandatory safety course.

At the time, Ryanair dismissed the allegations and Crewlink, the agency which employed Miss Growcoot, challenged her account and criticised Mrs Berger. 

The firm said her allegations about payments for training and having to pay to leave were 'untrue' and a false claim'.

Miss Growcoot's claims have now been supported by the Mail's investigation. She said: 'It was never clear what we were going to get paid for. They worded things in funny ways so we didn't know what was going on.'

Miss Growcoot was based at Liverpool Airport from January to April 2013 and now works as a live-in carer in Edinburgh. 

During her tenure with Ryanair she also raised concerns about unpaid 'home standby' days, describing one morning when she was called in to the airport from home at 4am only for the flight to be cancelled.

'I got ready and paid £11 for a taxi because obviously there was no public transport and ended up getting the first bus back home – meaning I had paid £13 altogether – and wasn't paid anything for the day. 

'I didn't even get an apology. I felt their attitude was: 'It's tough.'

When Miss Growcoot resigned she received letters from Ryanair demanding thousands of pounds to cover training and uniform costs.

The firm dropped the requests when Miss Growcoot said the ordeal was leaving her suffering from stress and anxiety.

She added: 'I was only 20 and some were 18 [years old]. I think 18 is too young to be a flight attendant anyway because they are young and naïve.'

Last night Mrs Berger said Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary should be called to Parliament to 'face the music'.

A spokesman for Ryanair said: 'We don't comment on hearsay rumour or speculation.'

She was told she would earn a 'premium' hourly rate of £14.43 – but this rate applies only to 'flight time', from when a plane leaves the blocks till it is parked at its destination.

Recruits were told the unpaid work would consist of at least 45 minutes before the day's first flight, time between flights, and half an hour after the final flight.

Agency cabin crew members must also pay fees, including at least £2,150 for training, £25 a month for uniform in the first year and £179 if resigning in the first 15 months. These deductions meant one worker was paid just £470 for a month's work.

Agency recruits earn on average £11,500 a year while chief executive Michael O'Leary had a pay package last year of £2.8million. The firm, Europe's largest airline, made post-tax profits of £1.14billion in the six months to September.

Labour MP Luciana Berger – who first raised Ryanair's conduct in Parliament in 2013 – said: 'We need a full and fearless investigation into Ryanair's malpractices, and Michael O'Leary should come to Parliament to face the music.' 

She added: 'Ryanair stands charged with disgraceful abuse of its cabin crew … Senior managers should hang their heads in shame.'

Graham Stringer, of the Commons transport committee, condemned the 'shocking' actions of the company, which is worth £17.5billion.

'SHOWN NO RESPECT — ALL THEY CARE ABOUT IS SALES' 

Giulia described bosses relentlessly pushing cabin crew to hit increasingly unrealistic sales targets

Italian stewardess Giulia says she was told to sell more snacks and scratch cards onboard to be moved to an airport closer to her ill grandmother.

The 28-year-old asked to be moved from her base in Sicily to nearer her home town of Pisa when it became clear her relative was seriously unwell.

She said she made 12 requests that were all declined, and that she was told priority for transfers was based on selling performance, not family circumstances.

Her grandmother died before Giulia was granted a transfer. She quit her post this year suffering from depression.

Giulia, who has asked to withhold her surname, also worked at Stansted Airport on a contract for third-party agency Crewlink between 2012 and 2013.

She described bosses relentlessly pushing cabin crew to hit increasingly unrealistic sales targets. 

Techniques designed to improve sales were said to include leaving onboard lights bright even on early morning and late night flights and making repeated announcements over the public address system. 

Heating on the plane would also be turned off in the hope this would keep passengers awake.

This was to ensure cabin crew had the best opportunity to sell Ryanair's array of scratch cards, food and perfumes.

She said: 'If we said [to a supervisor] passengers were sleeping, she said we should have woken them up. It was ridiculous. We were pushed all the time. It was all about up-selling. If someone purchased a hot chocolate you had to ask if they wanted a Twix. Passengers would get angry.'

Of her bid to be relocated, Giulia, who says she now earns the same salary working as a waitress in Italy, added: 'I deserved to be moved because of my seniority and I had a good sales record.

'You aren't shown any respect as all they care about are sales.'

He said: 'There needs to be an inquiry into this. Ryanair's human resources policies are more reminiscent of medieval times … If I was a shareholder I would be demanding Mr O'Leary's head.'

The work and pensions committee and business committee have said they will investigate.

Ryanair said the £3.75-per-hour airport standby shifts were lawful as total pay amounts to more than minimum wage, when flight time and sales commission is included.

The Prime Minister's spokesman said: 'There are no excuses for not paying the national minimum wage … regardless of what the employer calls the arrangement … HMRC responds to 100 per cent of minimum wage complaints, and also carries out a number of targeted investigations where it identifies a risk of abuse.'

Lawyers who analysed the Mail's findings said Ryanair could be in breach of minimum wage guidelines. It is an offence for employers to fail to have full shift records that prove they pay minimum wage. Stewards say they are not given such records. Ryanair said it does record their full working shifts but declined to provide a sample.

Last week Ryanair recognised pilots' unions for the first time. But it still refuses to do so for cabin crew unions. A clause in stewards' contracts threatens them with the sack if they strike.

Unite's Oliver Richardson said: 'This change must extend to all workers … These work conditions are unacceptable.'

Ryanair denied any wrongdoing. It said its average pay for crew, including agency workers and staff but not supervisors, is £21,140.

It said recruits who stay for a year get an 'annual uniform allowance' of £396.

A spokesman also said that staff were given training to help improve their sales, but 'if they consistently and repeatedly underperform, their contracts will be terminated'.

Crewlink declined to comment.