If a Ryanair AGM takes place but there are no journalists there to report it, does it really happen? The budget airline is never shy of making unexpected decisions – remember the change to a kinder, friendlier and more amiable manner towards customers? – and now chief exec Michael O’Leary has denied himself the oxygen of publicity.

Thursday’s AGM, in the City North hotel in Co Meath, will take place behind closed doors and without the presence of the press, breaking with a long-standing tradition that journalists report on the annual meetings of publicly listed companies.

Last week, the airline said the meeting would be just for shareholders so that the discussions did not become twisted. Nor will there be a press briefing afterwards.

So why the reticence to let the media in? The company said: “We wish to allow shareholders to discuss all matters freely with the board without these discussions being distorted for PR purposes.”

It is not, it would appear, any new sense of shyness on behalf of O’Leary, who just last week told Chris Grayling, the transport secretary, to “get off his backside” and strike a deal with the EU to avoid flights being grounded by a no-deal Brexit.

It is has been a trying time for the airline – it was forced to cancel 20,000 flights last year amid staff rostering problems and industrial disputes in several countries. O’Leary himself has admitted making mistakes in his handling of the strikes and waived a €1m (£890,000) bonus over the cancellations. “I need to improve my own performance,” he said. “Clearly, we’ve made mistakes … with the unions.”

This summer Ryanair suffered its worst-ever strikes, as action by pilots and cabin crew forced it into cancellations. A deal with striking Irish pilots was reached last month and the airline has said it is hopeful it can secure deals in other markets.

But unions representing cabin crew in Italy, Portugal, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands have threatened to extend the summer of industrial action to a stoppage on 28 September. O’Leary has refused to back down in the face of that threat, claiming that Ryanair was willing to accept strikes and not “roll over like easyJet” every time it was threatened. Last week, a Belgian union said the stoppage planned for later this month was due to ongoing discussions having not yielded results.

Another issue is the position of the chairman, David Bonderman. Earlier this month, the European Transport Workers’ Federation and the International Transport Workers’ Federation joined with Glass Lewis, a shareholder advisory company, in calling for investors to vote against the re-election of Bonderman, the US billionaire who has been in his position since 1996. The workers’ representatives want him removed to change what they see is an anti-union culture at the company; the airline predicts he will remain.

On Friday, Britain’s Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF) also recommended members vote against Ryanair’s financial report and oppose the re-election of Bonderman, citing “significant concerns” about the airline’s treatment of workers.

The current disruptions have created the worst period for the budget airline in its modern history. It is, of course, not obliged to let press into the AGM, but it is breaking a tradition held by most public companies by shutting the doors.

So with Ryanair’s difficulties continuing, will closing the doors mean the events inside will remain a secret? Unlikely. Although the venue has moved inland and away from the airline’s headquarters, it is unlikely to stop the press from gathering outside the doors to pick up the anger of shareholders.