I guess it’ll be there for a day or so to take the black boxes out. Having flown a 738 into LDY before, all I can say is that they should have read the chart which states ‘Pilots are reminded of the close proximity of Ballykelly 5nm to the east-northeast of this aerodrome. Ballykelly runway lighting may be observed to the final approach to Runway 26. Pilots should poitively identify Eglinton before comitting the aircraft to landing.’

Ballykelly is directly under the approach to LDY with runways in the same position and layout so I can see how this could happen but there you go. Eirjet have been operating daily into LDY so they should familiar with it, however I know they now have temporary contract pilots working for them in order to keep up with the demand from Ryanair. It’s unfortunate but I’ll be surprised if no one has done it before.

BTW, Ryanair’s engines aren’t derated as is contrary to popular opinion but are rarely needed at anywhere near full whack.

It’s called running an airline properly, diesel1 sums it up very nicely. With the lease rates of their A320’s at circa $350,000 each per month ($35,000 per day total!) I can tell what I’d do. Ryanair are extremely difficult to please with wet leases and this is eirjet’s second year working for RYR and I can tell you that RYR are very pleased with eirjet. I’ve checked their punctuality etc. and it’s close to 95% within 15 mins and 100% within 1 hour. Last year Monarch and Excel were diabolical subbing for RYR and won’t be seen again. EIR are also beat mainline Air Jamaica with EI-DKG in Montego Bay which I think is due back in DUB very soon if not already.

The A320’s are currently busy with 12-14 hours flying day in day out which is more than peak summer activity. From talking to EIR crews, the main problem with their charters is often DUB ie the atrotious handling and ground arrangments from the DAA. The main UK charter airlines always heavily pad their schedules as well when compared to EIR.

I assume you work with ServisAir Shamrock, fair play but DUB is a mess for them. The staff do their best but invariably it always goes pear shaped. EIR are doing 20-25 min turns in DUB every day with Ryanair without any hitches which says it all. I’m not having a go but I’ve heard of 1.5-2 hour turns during summer which is not good.

The other main problem, I think is the sub charters (OMNI Air etc.) messing it up, the mainline A320 operation being OK. I guess we’ll see over the summer.

Regards.

There are 10 A319s and 5 A320s in storage which were returned to their owners by NWA. They are currently up for sale, see SH&E which even has a brochure. I note that they have low cycles and hours ie an average of 2 sectors a day..poor useage by NWA.

They are also fitted with an older model of engine which aren’t too popular with airlines who like standarisation. Some of them also need major maintenance checks so could be sitting there for a while. I also suspect their owners’ asking prices are too high.

According to initial reports, the winglets are saving an extra 3-6% per flight over non wingletted -800s. In reality this means a 10%+ saving in fuel costs over the A320 on an average Ryanair flight.

The 738 is a couple of million $$ more expensive to buy however so the savings aren’t so clear cut for the average airline. Ryanair don’t care because they got the ‘buy one get one free’ deal off Boeing. (Really) 🙂

BTW, as it seems with all new 737 deliveries, the new aircraft often go ‘tech’ regularly within the first few weeks; EI-DLF gave up altogether in Eindhoven on Friday. After a month or so of flying they can go for months flat out without a hitch once all the parts are broken in.Wierd.

redsquare

Dont Formula 1 cars use carbon brakes???? If so those things are prone to explode when they get to a certain temperature. Although Im sure they would be checked and replaced regulary.

I think so hence the orange glow when they’re applied. I could be talking rubbish here but I wreckon they only explode (and boy do they explode) when they are used excessively over and over again with a high outside air temperature.

There’s an interesting if a little technical article from Flight International which shows various improvments coming to the 737NG including the brakes. A 350kg saving means about 4 additional passengers will cost zero to the airlines to fly around – nice for RYR. However I notice they say it could take longer to cool so probably a bit of a dilemma for MOL 😉 .

I also think carbon brakes are fitted to most Airbuses – not sure.

Of course these upgrades should have been in from the start but Southwest wanted commonality first. 😡

When is the next blue moon?

Yeah, I don’t know too much about the situation at LDY. Are you from that neck of the woods? I guess I wouldn’t be impressed if they wanted to knock my house for a runway extension. I wonder if it’s even feasible with the proximity of the two Belfast airports and I suppose that’s why RYR are testing LDY to EMA and LPL. Time will tell.

redsquare

Yep, of the 2 Eirjets, one ops for Ryanair 7 days a week and other does mon-fri returning to DUB on the Friday night to operate their charters.

The runway at LDY is borderline for the 738, but its not the engines. Ryanair have the -7B26 fitted which is the uprated version of the engine(climbs like there’s no tomorrow). The problem is more to do with the short turnaround, have a guess, it begins with B.

redsquare

The thing that shocked me was Ryanair’s attitude to its employees. It seems that if you complain about being ill or tired then you get the sack as was the case with the captain that was fired at Dublin for saying he was suffering from fatigue. No wonder they are short of pilots. The pilots are probably switching airlines at the first oppurtunity they get

As a current RYR employee, I think I qualify to answer. The captain at DUB was not fired but was temporarliy demoted to F/O. Fatique was claimed after he refused to operate additional flights. He had been on holiday days before and was unlikely to be fatiqued. Read the website, it’s lenghty but worth a read. All of the claims have valid replies and also have a good laugh at some of the garbage which the production company attempted to include in the programme hence why the programme was so short-they edited a quarter of it out at the last minute.

Pilots are switching to Ryanair not the other way around; have recently worked with ex BMI, easyjet(lots), Astraeus, SAS, LOT, Excel, SN Brussels, Aer Arann etc. The SN Brussels Capt was jealous because first officers get paid more and work less days than he did as an A330 captain in Belgium.

It’s obvious that the wannabe TV presenters failed in their responsibilites and didn’t follow any the Ryanair procedures. This programme was hoping to get far more than it did eg. obvious defective equipment and emergencies. How many times did we see the same clip of the aircraft landing; there was only about 5 minutes of footage, none of which contained anything out if the ordinary.

The reporters worked 37 and 30 hours respectively on a four day week so any claims they were ‘overworked’ is complete tosh.

The delay in Spain was evidence of the lengths RYR go to. The aircraft was thought to have been hit by a moving stairs. They could have easily cancelled the flight and said ‘you’re on your own’ but instead sent a damage report to engineering in Dublin who gave the OK and they sent it on to Boeing in Seattle to make sure. All this was done in less than 3 hours. Free drinks, get real, the programme would have been quick to point out that it is illegal to open a sealed bar on an aircraft.

Sorry for the essay but some people are too quick to believe what they are told by people with agendas. I could go on all night. Ryanair will not be affected in any way, mark my words, and will go from success to success like it or not 😀

I must applaude Ryanair & MOL for their openess in this. This has the potential to backfire on C4. It makes me sick that these people betray peoples’ trust and now crew have to question the motives of each other. Other airlines and their crews will also be on the lookout from now on to catch these ‘reporters’.

Also, the chances now of being allowed any sort of photography near a Ryanair aircraft is now even more reduced. I know all the Captains I know won’t allow any cockpit visits or photos.. shame as that was what first got me really interested in flying (Thanks to an Air2000 crew years ago for a jumpseat into AGP).

In my relatively short time in RYR, there have been numerous spot checks by national CAA’s and are always thorough, probably because of Ryanair’s perceived potential to decimate their ayling and bankrupt national carriers.

Are RYR perfect? Not by a longshot but they’re doing something right. Are RYR cocky? You betcha! People used to laugh at the plans for expansion. I still have a Flight International article from 1994 which strongly questioned the prospects for a small regional Irish airline when they purchased the 2nd hand 737-200s.

If some people don’t like Ryanair for whatever reason, that’s fine but the issue with the the hacks who seemingly think they are above the law is an industry wide issue and they will hopefully be shown where they can stick it. :dev2:

Will this programme affect Ryanair? Absolulely not, it could even act as an advertisment. 42 million pax this year says it all.

Viva La Ryanair!