The timing could not have been worse for Ryanair Holdings Plc. As the busiest travel weekend loomed and budget-minded Brits booked a quick holiday, pilots in the U.K. called a strike, threatening mass chaos at airports around the country.

It never happened. All of the discount carrier’s flights operated as scheduled Thursday, with the only delays due to congestion, the airline said. Ryanair also expects Friday flights to run smoothly, after the morning passed without glitches. In the end, what looked to become a nightmare for an estimated 260,000 passengers on 1,700 planes turned into a storm in a tomato juice cup.

Ryanair was able to ward off the disruption partly because support for the strike wasn’t large to begin with among the pilot ranks, with less that 30% of its U.K. contingent backing the action, according to the company. The carrier is also likely to have reshuffled rosters to staff planes with non-union cockpit crew and may have flown in employees from other countries, said Daniel Roeska, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein.

What’s shaping up to be a flop for pilots is in turn a vindication for Ryanair Chief Executive Officer Michael O’Leary, who has battled labor demands at every turn of his career. The combative leader once famously proclaimed that he would cut off both his arms and that “hell would freeze over” before he agreed to recognize unions. Yet—and with all his limbs intact—Ryanair agreed to allow worker representation in 2017, and strike action has since become a more prevalent feature of the airline’s daily life.

Ryanair rose as much as 32 cents, or 3.8%, to 8.8 euros in Dublin. The stock has lost 18% in value this year, the third-worst performer on the Bloomberg World Airlines Index of 28 members.

Ryanair and Balpa did not respond to emails seeking comment

O’Leary upped the ante in the labor clashes last month when he told pilots and flight attendants that hundreds of jobs must go and bases close to cope with a possible no-deal Brexit and slower growth after the grounding of Boeing Co.’s 737 Max jet. O’Leary is a fierce critic of the U.K. leaving the European Union, and he’s one of the biggest buyers of Boeing’s latest single-aisle aircraft.

The walkout by members of the British Airline Pilots’ Association started at midnight Thursday after Ryanair failed to block it with a legal injunction. The union said in a statement that the protest over pay and conditions was “causing huge cost to the company,” without referring directly to the impact on flights.

Cabin crew at Ryanair’s Spanish bases have threatened to strike next month over plans to close three locations unless unions agree terms. Staff in Portugal are in the midst of a five-day action over holiday allowances and dues.