Would you book a Ryanair flight at the moment?

[w124bob]

Seems to me the airline have made a massive PR gaffe, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41291483

They have a one make fleet, 189 seats, 42 days and lets assume 45 cancellations per day being the average. Thats 357,210 seats yet they send me a lovely email offering cheap deals on 50,000 seats. I was seriously thinking of a week in the south of France in a couple of weeks, now going by rail all the way. I wonder why this years annual leave for staff has been mismanaged, they quote rolling out a new computer system.

[Vistisen]

Probably not,especially as a wheel fell off one of their planes on the way to Copehagen yesterday. Only about 1 % of that flight was cancelled

 

[57xx]

I wouldn't book a Ryanair flight. Period.

[Zero Gravitas]

I wouldn't book a Ryanair flight. Period.

I agree with this for many reasons, not least being their "pay to fly" policy whereby newly-qualified pilots pay Ryanair to fly their planes as a way of building up flying hours.

[a320sim]

I agree with this for many reasons, not least being their "pay to fly" policy whereby newly-qualified pilots pay Ryanair to fly their planes as a way of building up flying hours.

 

This is a total myth.  They pay for their Type Rating - which is a requirement to be allowed to operate a particular type of aircraft (and is common practice in many airlines) - but once they begin flying passengers they are paid.

Edited September 16, 2017 by a320sim

[Bruce Depot]

I just did, although ours is for November. Hopefully by then order will have been resumed!

[jjb1970]

I try to avoid flying as much as possible. The one redeeming feature of regular trips to Brussels is that I use the train to get there. When I first asked my travel department to get me a train ticket to Rotterdam in preference to flying when I worked in class they thought I was mad yet once I did it it was amazing how many others decided to do it.

[Zero Gravitas]

This is a total myth.  They pay for their Type Rating - which is a requirement to be allowed to operate a particular type of aircraft (and is common practice in many airlines) - but once they begin flying passengers they are paid.

Thanks for the correction - I'd actually got the information from Ryanair crew about 10 years ago and I had no reason to disbelieve them, and it stuck with me.

 

Mind you - a type rating from Ryanair costs 30,000 euros: https://pilot.cae.com/Programs/Ryanair.aspx?prog=6 ...

[w124bob]

I've used the airline several times over the last few years for flights to France and never had an issue, I just couldn't understand why annual leave was causing an issue compared with previous years. I guess it's a case of fewer staff same timetable. Perhaps they could go for the Southern Trains option and introduce POO flights!

Edited September 16, 2017 by w124bob

[Fat Controller]

I've used the airline several times over the last few years for flights to France and never had an issue, I just couldn't understand why annual leave was causing an issue compared with previous years. I guess it's a case of fewer staff same timetable. Perhaps they could go for the Southern Trains option and introduce POO flights!

Probably people building up time off in lieu after covering extra shifts during the peak season. 

[BG John]

Surely the best way to improve punctuality is to cancel all flights. Then they could claim 100%, rather than a less impressive 90% .

[Claude_Dreyfus]

I have enough problems with companies I have no choice but to use, treating their customers with total contempt. Why on earth would I use a company that treats its customers with total contempt when I have alternatives? 

[Kylestrome]

Probably not,especially as a wheel fell off one of their planes[/size] on the way to Copehagen yesterday. Only about 1 % of that flight was cancelled

 

Well at least the front didn't fall off!

 

https://youtu.be/3m5qxZm_JqM

Edited September 16, 2017 by Kylestrome

[caradoc]

Imagine the stick the railway industry would get if a wheel fell off a train, yet for a multi-million dollar jet aircraft it seems to be treated as 'just one of those things'. Who is Michael O'Leary blaming for these two debacles, anyway ?

[roundhouse]

Used them once. I avoid them like the plague. Easyjet are not good but they are miles better IMHO.

[wombatofludham]

Never had a problem with Ryanair.  Last time I flew easyJet I ended up sat next to some poor old bloke who clearly had "gastric problems" and promptly sh*t himself on take off.  Let's just say the Airbus A320 air-conditioning couldn't do anything to shift the smell.  Of course that's not the fault of easyJet but parking their jet in what felt like Gatwick's overflow carpark on landing, with probably the longest walk back to civilisation I've ever had at any airport was probably cost-based.

[Enterprisingwestern]

I wouldn't book a Ryanair flight. Period.

Qualify please.

 

Mike.

[cctransuk]

You pays yer money and you takes yer choice!

 

We have just returned from two weeks in Rhodes via Ryanair. No-one can say it was a fantastic experience, and they do deliberately make it difficult not to pay some sort of surcharge, but they get you there, pretty much to time, and no less comfort than the charter airlines.

 

If you want cheap and cheerful - there's Ryanair if you choose to accept no frills.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

Edited September 16, 2017 by cctransuk

[The Stationmaster]

I used Ryanair once - mainly because they happened to fly to a place they called Hamburg but was actually on a local 'bus route in the suburbs of Lubeck and thus far more suited to my rail connection needs that flying to the real Hamburg.  I also wanted to see how much their £5 bargain fare would really cost (£27 as it happened).  And they had the particular advantage on that occasion of enabling me to reach my destination in eastern Germany in a day without an overnight stop enroute if I'd gone on Eurostar.

 

But they were without a doubt the most disorganised airline operator of aircraft I have ever flown with, absolutely atrocious with a lack of information, unexplained delays, and destination airfield disorganisation which would have prompted a flood of complaints had they been a train operator - so never again; O'Leary had his chance with my business and duly lost it forever in the future.

[APOLLO]

 

 

Brit15

[roundhouse]

Never had a problem with Ryanair.  Last time I flew easyJet I ended up sat next to some poor old bloke who clearly had "gastric problems" and promptly sh*t himself on take off.  Let's just say the Airbus A320 air-conditioning couldn't do anything to shift the smell.  Of course that's not the fault of easyJet but parking their jet in what felt like Gatwick's overflow carpark on landing, with probably the longest walk back to civilisation I've ever had at any airport was probably cost-based.

Doesn't matter who you fly with to Gatwick, it's always a long walk to border control. At least for us it's not a long hike home from landside.

[EddieB]

I remember first flying business class with Ryanair in the days before they started their drive to the bottom. I must have used them dozens of times when they started low cost operations, but less frequently the more they started to bite the the hands that fed them. If my plan is to pick up a hire car and head off from the destination, then I prefer arriving at a small airfield over a big city airport. I think O'Leary is having a bet with himself over how much he can inconvenience his customers while they still come back for more.

 

Unfortunately, where they led, others have followed and these days even the national flag carriers have introduced basic fares where luggage, meals and just about everything else are extra. I last used Ryanair last month. I'm not a fan but they got us there and back with no issues (the biggest problem was failing to check how the Stansted Long Stay has raised its prices and getting toasted as a result).

 

If the BBC news story is true then isn't it time for O'Leary's beloved EU to step in and review their licence?

[jjb1970]

I think all European flights now are pretty much operated as LCCs. If you need to get from A to B over longer distances then flying is an unavoidable part of life but I try and avoid as far as possible. Personally I find flying long haul in business class is still dire, yes it is much better than taking the same flight in steerage but I can't really say I find it in any way enjoyable.

[MarkC]

I used Ryanair once - mainly because they happened to fly to a place they called Hamburg but was actually on a local 'bus route in the suburbs of Lubeck and thus far more suited to my rail connection needs that flying to the real Hamburg.  I also wanted to see how much their £5 bargain fare would really cost (£27 as it happened).  And they had the particular advantage on that occasion of enabling me to reach my destination in eastern Germany in a day without an overnight stop enroute if I'd gone on Eurostar.

 

But they were without a doubt the most disorganised airline operator of aircraft I have ever flown with, absolutely atrocious with a lack of information, unexplained delays, and destination airfield disorganisation which would have prompted a flood of complaints had they been a train operator - so never again; O'Leary had his chance with my business and duly lost it forever in the future.

They're notorious for that. Torp (Sandefjord) airport in southern Norway, one I use occasionally from Schipol when joining/leaving ships at Heroya/Rafnes, is used by Ryanscare as "Oslo airport". It's quite a trek to Oslo - way further than Gardemoen, the 'real' airport for Oslo. Munich is another place that springs to mind, and there will be others.

[Colin_McLeod]

I flew Ryanair from Dublin to Copenhagen last month. Sitting at the rear of the plane I was able to hear the staff including a trainee argue about who was going to do the safety demonstration. With all the faffing around we missed our take off slot and had to wait 40 minutes. We made two landings at Copenhagen as it hit the runway so hard it literally bounced back up and landed again a few seconds later.