Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has said the firm is facing a "significant management failure" as it struggles to cope with massive flight cancellations.
The admission came at the budget airline's annual general meeting, which is being held in Dublin.
Ryanair is cancelling 40-50 flights every day for the next six weeks, after it admitted it had "messed up" the planning of pilot holidays.
A group of Ryanair pilots has rejected a cash bonus to work extra days.
Ryanair had offered captains a one-off payment of £12,000 or 12,000 euros, and first officers £6,000 or 6,000 euros, but they said they wanted new contracts and better working conditions instead.
'Bloody nose'
Mr O'Leary told the AGM that Ryanair was planning to take back one week of its pilots' holidays to prevent any further cancellations.
He said pilots who had a four-week block of holidays coming up in the next few months because of rota changes would be told to take three weeks instead and have the other week in January.
He said the firm did not need pilots' agreement for the change.
Mr O'Leary said the cancellations had cost Ryanair about 25 million euros (£22m).
He accused unions of trying to give the company "a bloody nose" and said staff did not want union representation.
'Greener pastures'
In a letter seen by the BBC, pilot representatives from 30 of the company's 80 or so European bases turned down the cash bonus offer.
They wrote: "The pilot market is changing, and Ryanair will need to change the ways which the pilots and management work together to ensure a stable and common future for everyone."
New contracts, the letter said, should help stop the large number of colleagues who are leaving for "greener pastures".
At the AGM, Mr O'Leary declined to discuss the pilots' response.
Ryanair has said it expects to have re-accommodated more than 95% of customers affected by cancellations by end of this week.
CREDIT BBC
