Why do people keep moaning about Ryanair ?

Anyone with a ounce of ‘common’ would have known that.

Thought it was worth posting this gem as a seperate post in addition to the edit in the original comment.

Ryanair must move away from low fares, says O’Leary

Budget airline chief says ‘unsustainable’ model must change – and so must the leadership

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/sep/12/ryanair-move-away-from-low-fares

Flown Ryanair for around 7 or 8 years now..

Flights always been cheap, No hassel and usualy arrive before the expected time. From a photography point of view at airports FR/EZY I detest lol.. From a flight point of view I cant complain one little bit.. been perfect for me.

ciao

Trust me, this ‘old chestnut’ of a fire doesn’t need any more fuel;)

A sad and diabolical situation, I genuinely feel for both of them, and I’m pleased that justice was done.

I worked in handling for very many years, and there was always the odd occasion when the wheelchairs were late to the aircraft. When I first got into aviation, the lift on function at STN was carried out by our airport fire service, who also provided paramedic services. In those days, our pax services were responsible for the welfare of the passenger prior to boarding. In fact our company had its own wheelchairs back then. The cost of handling the sick and less abled was factored in to the handling fees that we charged the carrier concerned. Nowadays of course, in the airline industry we are into the era of outsourcing, another ‘progressive’ way of doing business, providing that customer service is not at the top of your agenda. The wheelchair service at our local airport is provided by a subsidiary of an independent, non aviation company. A very good friend of mine got a job with this outfit, after being made redundant after 20yrs. in the air cargo industry. These people work 12 hr. shifts, inc nights, for a whisker above the national minimum wage, their overtime rate is no different from the normal pay rate, there is no shift premium for weekend and bank holidays and there is no sick pay. Another added ‘bonus’ is that they only get 12 days holiday per year. He is on a 4 on 4 off shift pattern, although he routinely has to work 2 additional shifts per week to make ends meet. Apparently, very few British people work on the shop floor, hence its mostly staffed by foreign people. It is a very physical job, and they seem to be permanently short of staff, I wonder why? A great many of his workmates make the journey from as far away as parts of London, and the ‘wilds’ of Suffolk every day. Staff shortage may very well be the reason that these passengers found themselves in the situation detailed in the article. It could simply be, that there was just not anough staff, and what there was, were too thinly spread to provide the service at that time A good illustration I guess, that there is always two sides to every story.

To add fuel to the fire…

Quote from today’s Daily Telegraph “A disabled woman has successfully sued Ryanair after her husband had to carry her on to a plane using a fireman’s lift when the flight crew refused to help. Jo Heath,57, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchaie, was left on a runway at Luton Airport for half an hour after the special lift she had booked failed to arrive. The Ryanair crew refused to help her on to the plane after claiming it was unsafe for them to carry disabled passengers because they might “damage their backs”. Mrs Heath was left “humiliated” by the incident and sued Ryanair for £1,750 after Northampton county court ruled the budget airline has breached contract and broken disability discrimination laws”

So can we expect a new £2 levy to cover legal fees and fines?

As obviously an entrepreneur who knows what he’s taking about, may I ask what sort of business do you run?

No you may not. 🙂

Interestingly the chap in question has himself stated that the business model that rather rubbish airline operates is not a viable one in the long term.
He went on to state that once it does become unsustainable (aka cannot rip people off for massive returns anymore) he would look to sell and move on.

I shall google to see if i can find the original article, although i have a feeling that it was a print version i read.

Edit: Found it.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/sep/12/ryanair-move-away-from-low-fares

Ryanair must move away from low fares, says O’Leary

Budget airline chief says ‘unsustainable’ model must change – and so must the leadership

You’re right PeeDee, it doesn’t. I am not sure of the dimensions of the Q400 overhead lockers without digging out the manuals.

That said, the Q400 has small overhead lockers, you can get a “normal” sized holdall in them though, and I can always fit my laptop in them. What normally happens though is that customers will try and get away with paying for their bag to go into the hold so they bring it on as hand luggage. Invariably security do not want the hassle, so they send them through and let us deal with it on board, which is totally wrong. You would never believe what some people bring onto the aeroplane, or the size of it. Gatwick can be the worst culprits, especially in the summer.

Luxair operate a “delivery at aircraft” policy, you can take your wheely bag as carry on but you leave it outside the aircraft for it to be stuck in the hold and get it back at the aircraft on landing. Very convienient.

There are plenty of those baggage size check gizmos everywhere. Several at check in, several at security and several at each gate.

If your bag doesn’t fit, you pay. The maximum sizes are clearly printed on your online check in sheet and all over the FR website.
If you waited until the gate to find out, and your bag truly is bigger than the clearly indicated max size, that’s your fault

edit: I don’t believe I’m defending FR!!

The point was i’d done all that…
ps the bag wasn’t too big per their rules that i know for a fact. So no not my fault at all. 🙂

You need to ignore the individual charges and just look at the total cost of getting from A to B. Then compare it with Network Rail, mile for mile, and I think you would agree it is fantastic value for money!

This would be like comparing Ryanair with the CAA.

Network Rail are responsible for maintaining rail infrastructure.

They do not operate passenger or freight services.

You need to ignore the individual charges and just look at the total cost of getting from A to B. Then compare it with Network Rail, mile for mile, and I think you would agree it is fantastic value for money!

Anything is excellent value compared to Network Rail.

I still think that it is cheaper overall to put the luggage into the hold, which has been specifically designed for it. The hassle, inconvenience and damage caused by trying to fit large bags into small spaces would leave you amazed.

But 25 mins is saved in “Getting home” time.
There is also the matter of what people are taking away with them. They need some lessons on packing for light travel.
Yesterdays trip of mine was one night only, so I only needed 1 off shirt/socks/nickers and shave / teeth stuff.
But, for a week away I can still get away with a bag no larger than a carrier bag, 4 shirts/ties, jeans, shoes, socks, nickers, bathroom gear. All but shirts and Jeans fit in my shoes. As soon as I get in the hotel, the shirts are unfolded and hung in the shower room, with the shower on 40 degC for 10 mins. The steam returns them to “Just Ironed”…a bit like memory cotton LoL.
The amount some people take on a short business trip is truly wierd.

Hence FR’s strict rules on cabin baggage size.

I still think that it is cheaper overall to put the luggage into the hold, which has been specifically designed for it. The hassle, inconvenience and damage caused by trying to fit large bags into small spaces would leave you amazed.

The overhead lockers on a Q400 being small does not surprise me. It has a small cabin cross section. Space is limited.

However, FR do not fly Q400s. And my bag that fit into the FR Size gauges fit neatly into the overhead bins of the 737-800.

That’s a check in issue then?
At Southampton (Tuesday), everybody with a hand baggage larger than a carrier bag was asked to place it in the cage to prove it was regular.
On the return leg from Amsterdam yesterday, far fewer people were asked to “Cage” it but this chappy and myself had to.
But that’s Flybe, they tend to try and do things properly IMO.

(Apart from taxi at 70-100 mph on the corner off the Runway, surprised the tyres stayed on the rims!…he didn’t slow down much until parking up!

You’re right PeeDee, it doesn’t. I am not sure of the dimensions of the Q400 overhead lockers without digging out the manuals.

That said, the Q400 has small overhead lockers, you can get a “normal” sized holdall in them though, and I can always fit my laptop in them. What normally happens though is that customers will try and get away with paying for their bag to go into the hold so they bring it on as hand luggage. Invariably security do not want the hassle, so they send them through and let us deal with it on board, which is totally wrong. You would never believe what some people bring onto the aeroplane, or the size of it. Gatwick can be the worst culprits, especially in the summer.

There are plenty of those baggage size check gizmos everywhere. Several at check in, several at security and several at each gate.If your bag doesn’t fit, you pay. The maximum sizes are clearly printed on your online check in sheet and all over the FR website.
If you waited until the gate to find out, and your bag truly is bigger than the clearly indicated max size, that’s your fault

edit: I don’t believe I’m defending FR!!

That is not the issue.
Yesterday I was on a Q400, the guy in front of me (At check in and at A/c seat) had a laptop on wheels thing with a retractable handle. It fitted in the 9x14x22 cage with half an inch to spare all round. It did not fit in the overhead locker of the Q400, and it did not go far enough under the seat to be secure. The dinner lady took it up front somewhere.
My point being that the A/c don’t always match the 9x14x22 rule.

I take it the OP isn’t viewing ‘Watchdog’ tonight!
Ryanair, fine as a bus if you’re prepared to pay more than you expected and sit with your knees around your ears, not so good with passenger care especially if something goes U/S or plane has to divert.

We have done it again – more free publicity for that charleton MO’L.

Why don’t we wait until the awful business Crashes and they give MO’L the heave ho and then we all celebrate with a massive thread.

Ideally no crashes of FR aircraft though.

Ideally or otherwise, nobody should wish to see any aircraft crash! This comment was in very poor taste!

Just the same as nobody is forced to read threads on here about Ryanair and not be happy with it’s content 😉

Quite right – it’s just like banging your head against a brick wall. It’s great when it stops.;)