Would you book a Ryanair flight at the moment?

[PMP]

 

 

A Ryanair plane lost one of its nose wheels and had to perform an emergency landing at East Midlands Airport.

 

 

Reported on the second post of this thread, unfortunate, but not exceptional to Ryanair. Hence the previous comments regarding B737 landing technique.

[Tim Dubya]

Spotted this on the Farcebook

[Paperlad]

Oh dear, oh dear,

 

In today's Telegraph...Ryanair to cancel another 400000 bookings (in addition to the 315000 already announced) and ground 25 aircraft between Oct and Mar. There's also additional info on how much this will cost Ryan and the associated drop in annual pax numbers.

 

Normal winter schedule, very unlikely!

 

I know it's wrong but I find myself being amused by Ryan's current troubles

[Tim Dubya]

I know it's wrong but I find myself being amused by Ryan's current troubles

 

Don't be, after the horror stories I've heard, they have what's coming to them.

 

(Tim Dubya - NVQ Level 2, Customer Service)

Edited September 27, 2017 by Tim Dubya

[Ron Ron Ron]

We may have been on the same flights.

 

For the money I don't think the Transat experience in economy was unreasonable.

It was cheap for a transatlantic return, plus a domestic leg between Toronto and Montreal.

Working out at about £315 each for 3 flights, including pre-selected seats.

So we were open minded as to what we'd get for our money.

Outbound was quite acceptable for the price paid, even with the minimal cabin service, food, drink and tight seat space.

The overnight return was not pleasant though.

The domestic B737-800 leg was the equivalent of any LoCo service. Packed full, fairly cramped seating, but just about OK and easily bearable for just over an hour.

 

 

........seat pitch was as expected.

 

Seat pitch is about average for Economy (checked with Seat Guru), but seat width at 17" is amongst the narrowest.

As with most airline economy seats, they've cut the depth of the seat base, so there's less support under one's legs and it gives the superficial impression of more leg room and a better seat pitch than there really is.

The whole industry, manufacturers and airlines, are guilty of this.

 

 

......In flight entertainment was ok, a tablet in the seat back with a good cross section of entertainment,

We found the inflight entertainment selection to be quite limited compared with the average offerings elsewhere and way behind the best systems in use.

No latest or recent headline movie releases either.

 

 

....remember to take your own phone headphones as you do have to buy a set if you have none with you for about a fiver.

We always carry our own noise cancelling headphones. Couldn't do without them on long-haul flights.

Unfortunately, there are a few airlines (e.g. Etihad) who use proprietary headphone sockets/connectors, where you are forced to use their headphones. 

 

 

We booked both legs for four less than a month from departure and got a pretty good price, the aircraft was close to capacity both legs.

Prices are certainly cheap at the moment. 

Outbound flight was nearly full apart from the front cabin section, where most outside rows only had 2 passengers for 3 seats, like us.

Domestic leg and the return to Gatwick were both completely full.

 

 

.......cabin crew were excellent both legs.....Can't really complain for the product vs price on our flights, it was budget and comfortable enough for the duration.

Cabin crew were courteous, but not one of them made any special attempt, genuine of falsely, to be friendly, smile or put themselves out in any way.

They did the bare minimum and disappeared for most of the flight.

On most other airline's long-haul flights, they'll bring around complementary water and/or juice at least once or twice, if not at regular periods during the flight.

On the overnight return, we both got up for a loo break and to stretch our legs.

The first toilet my wife tried was dirty (remains of excrement on the top and down the front outside of the toilet pan). 

We tried the next one and that was dirty too.

We looked around for a member of the cabin crew (no one in or near the mid point galley right next to the loos ).

Eventually a cabin crew member appeared from the back of the plane and my wife politely reported the state of the loos to her.

She acknowledged the report, but made no apology or attempt at good customer relations over the matter.

However at least one of the loos appeared to have been cleaned later on in the flight.

 

 

....A few years ago we used the Transat 'business class' and it was very good indeed, certainly an airline I'd use again either class.

I've no idea about "a few years ago", but Air Transat have couple of rows of what they call "Club" seats.

Those are much better recliner seats, with a generous seat width, but it's only the equivalent of other airline's Premium Economy.

 

We wanted those, but Club was only available on the daytime outbound flight and was fully booked on our overnight return leg (for a few days either side of our return date too), so not worth the extra if we couldn't get it on the overnight flight home.

 

 

.....One option we may also choose is Westjet from Dublin, with the obvious task of getting to Dublin first, Westjet having a good reputation among friends whom have used them.

I've read some mixed reviews on their trans-Atlantic flights.

I think from Dublin it's a 737-800 with a refuelling stop.

The 737's are only fitted with standard seats, just 17" wide, even in their so called "Plus" class.

Check if personal reports refer to the 767-300 flights (e.g. from Gatwick), where "Plus" has similar recliner seats to Air Transat, but with better seat pitch.

 

 

Mrs. Ron begrudges travelling cattle class on long-haul.

She's got too used to Premium Economy as a minimum, much prefers Business class and recently has flown First Class to the Gulf and back.

There's no going back, she declares.....(gulp!)

Attempts to suggest a cheap economy long-haul trip are usually met with..... "a look" !

Funny; if I turn up with a couple of £20 wagons, or god forbid another loco..........

.....Mmmmm? but it's alright to p*ss away hundreds of £££'s extra for free champagne and a few hours in a comfy chair?????

 

 

Oh yeh! 

Where were we.....

Ryanair

 

.

[The Stationmaster]

Oh dear, oh dear,

 

In today's Telegraph...Ryanair to cancel another 400000 bookings (in addition to the 315000 already announced) and ground 25 aircraft between Oct and Mar. There's also additional info on how much this will cost Ryan and the associated drop in annual pax numbers.

 

Normal winter schedule, very unlikely!

 

I know it's wrong but I find myself being amused by Ryan's current troubles

 

Ryanair pilots would seem to be having a very long holiday adjustment period (should you happen to have believed that bit of nonsense in the first place).

[Ron Ron Ron]

After today's news of even more cancellations and despite assurances that this will be the last of them, I personally wouldn't recommend anyone should book with them unless they're prepared to accept the risk of yet another round of cancellations.

 

O'Leary has admitted a "major management failure".

Was he looking in the mirror when he said that?  

I doubt it.

 

.

[Colin_McLeod]

Spotted this on the Farcebook

That's interesting. Interesting because there was a similar post on Facebook.

[108]

Westjet are currently using 737-700 aircraft from Dublin, even smaller than the standard Ryanair -800's.

 

Air Transat have been using A310's occasionally from Dublin instead of A330's. These must be the last A310's in passenger use anywhere.

[Ron Ron Ron]

Westjet are currently using 737-700 aircraft from Dublin, even smaller than the standard Ryanair -800's.

Not that you'd notice sitting inside, apart from how long the cabin is.

Same type of seats and seating configuration.

 

 

Air Transat have been using A310's occasionally from Dublin instead of A330's. These must be the last A310's in passenger use anywhere.

They still have 9 A310's in service.

The 3 oldest ones are 29 years old and the other 6 are 25 years old.

(Nerd hat on here )

 

There's still a number of A310's in service in Iran, mostly with Mahan Air, a few operating in Yemen and Afghanistan and I believe 3 are still with Azores Airlines.

 

Other than commercial passenger use FedEx have a small handful left (obviously cargo use), but they must be retiring soon.

Quite a few are still used by various air forces and government VIP flights.

 

 

.

[EddieB]

From some time ago, but there was supposed to be incentives for travelling Ryanair business class.

 

Hey, I only got the Bushmills miniatures and free booze!  Still, something of a complementary service to Aer Lingus?

[Colin_McLeod]

From Facebook

 

[APOLLO]

Spare a thought for poor ole Michael O’Leary, Chief Executive of Ryanair.

 

After arriving in a hotel in Manchester, he went to the bar and asked for a pint of Guinness.
The barman nodded and said, "That will be £1 please, Mr. O’Leary."
Somewhat taken aback, O'Leary replied, "That's very cheap," and handed over his money.
"Well, we do try to stay ahead of the competition", said the barman. "And we are serving free pints every Wednesday from 6 pm until 8 pm. We have the cheapest beer in England".
"That is remarkable value", Michael comments.
"I see you don't seem to have a glass, so you'll probably need one of ours. That will be £3 please."
O'Leary scowled, but paid up.
He took his drink and walked towards a seat. "Ah, you want to sit down?" said the barman. "That'll be an extra £2. You could have pre-booked the seat, and it would have only cost you £1."
"I think you may be too big for the seat sir, can I ask you to sit in this frame please".
Michael attempts to sit down but the frame is too small and when he can't squeeze in, he complains "Nobody would fit in that little frame".
"I'm afraid if you can't fit in the frame you'll have to pay an extra surcharge of £4 for your seat sir".
O'Leary swore to himself, but paid up. "I see that you have brought your laptop with you" added the barman. "And since that wasn't pre-booked either, that will be another £3."
O'Leary was so incensed that he walked back to the bar, slammed his drink on the counter, and yelled, "This is ridiculous, I want to speak to the manager".
"I see you want to use the counter," says the barman, "that will be £2 please."
O'Leary's face was red with rage. "Do you know who I am?"
"Of course I do Mr. O'Leary."
"I've had enough! What sort of a Hotel is this? I come in for a quiet drink and you treat me like this. I insist on speaking to a manager!"
"Here is his e-mail address, or if you wish, you can contact him between 9.00 am and 9.01am every morning, Monday to Tuesday at this free phone number. Calls are free, until they are answered, then there is a talking charge of only £1 per second, or part thereof".
"I will never use this bar again".
"OK sir, but do remember, we are the only hotel in England selling pints for £1. !!!!!"

 

Brit15

[roundhouse]

I would book a Ryanair flight

 

If there were any!

[Andrew F]

Spare a thought for poor ole Michael O’Leary, Chief Executive of Ryanair.

 

After arriving in a hotel in Manchester, he went to the bar and asked for a pint of Guinness.

The barman nodded and said, "That will be £1 please, Mr. O’Leary."

Somewhat taken aback, O'Leary replied, "That's very cheap," and handed over his money.

"Well, we do try to stay ahead of the competition", said the barman. "And we are serving free pints every Wednesday from 6 pm until 8 pm. We have the cheapest beer in England".

"That is remarkable value", Michael comments.

"I see you don't seem to have a glass, so you'll probably need one of ours. That will be £3 please."

O'Leary scowled, but paid up.

He took his drink and walked towards a seat. "Ah, you want to sit down?" said the barman. "That'll be an extra £2. You could have pre-booked the seat, and it would have only cost you £1."

"I think you may be too big for the seat sir, can I ask you to sit in this frame please".

Michael attempts to sit down but the frame is too small and when he can't squeeze in, he complains "Nobody would fit in that little frame".

"I'm afraid if you can't fit in the frame you'll have to pay an extra surcharge of £4 for your seat sir".

O'Leary swore to himself, but paid up. "I see that you have brought your laptop with you" added the barman. "And since that wasn't pre-booked either, that will be another £3."

O'Leary was so incensed that he walked back to the bar, slammed his drink on the counter, and yelled, "This is ridiculous, I want to speak to the manager".

"I see you want to use the counter," says the barman, "that will be £2 please."

O'Leary's face was red with rage. "Do you know who I am?"

"Of course I do Mr. O'Leary."

"I've had enough! What sort of a Hotel is this? I come in for a quiet drink and you treat me like this. I insist on speaking to a manager!"

"Here is his e-mail address, or if you wish, you can contact him between 9.00 am and 9.01am every morning, Monday to Tuesday at this free phone number. Calls are free, until they are answered, then there is a talking charge of only £1 per second, or part thereof".

"I will never use this bar again".

"OK sir, but do remember, we are the only hotel in England selling pints for £1. !!!!!"

 

Brit15

 

He he. You forgot his penalty for not checking in on line before ordering his drink.

[SHMD]

I don't like businesses that use a business model based on deceit in an attempt to catch out their customers to then punish them with additional/required punitive charges.

 

Other business models I hate are the "easy in / difficult out" ones.

You now the ones, insurance, ISPs, auto renewals, etc where they have big call centres and websites to get your business in and, if you need out, just one part time half deaf old bat who only works Thursday mornings via a premium rate phone line!

 

I hate them all.

 

 

Kev.

[JZ]

And to follow news of more cancelled flights https://www.ryanair.com/gb/en/plan-trip/explore/flight-deals-and-sales

 

 

 

It's been around a while, but I thought I'd chuck this in. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPyl2tOaKxM

[PMP]

Not surprised at all. Now they've cut the flying program they know what they're working with as far as crews/aircraft availability goes. The uncertainty that the unstable crew resource caused regarding their forward operation, will be by now, based on my experience, a known factor.

 

They likely cut more of the flying program than they needed to. Cutting a bit more than required allows them to build a revised program almost guaranteed to operate. Hence they can bang in the new offers/deals and get bums back on seats again. And because people the world over like cheap, it'll work.

 

There's no deceit with these types of LoCo airlines/hotels/rail tickets/concerts/carhire et al, the terms and conditions are there to be read. Surely when people click the tick box that says 'I've read the T&C's' that are hyperlinked, before the company can actually access your cash, they've actually read them?

 

 

Edit to fix predictive txt speak

Edited September 30, 2017 by PMP

[rockershovel]

A man is changing flights at Stansted. He spies an attractive woman, and thinks "cabin crew on standby".

 

Emboldened by fatigue and alcohol, he ventures "something special in the air?" and is ignored... ok, he thinks, not American Airlines. "Love to fly, and it shows?" elicits only the she clearly doesn't work for Delta.

 

Eventually she turns to him, and asks "what the f*k do YOU want?" Ah! He thinks: RyanAir!

[The Stationmaster]

Not surprised at all. Now they've cut the flying program they know what they're working with as far as crews/aircraft availability goes. The uncertainty that the unstable crew resource caused regarding their forward operation, will be by now, based on my experience, a known factor.

 

They likely cut more of the flying program than they needed to. Cutting a bit more than required allows them to build a revised program almost guaranteed to operate. Hence they can bang in the new offers/deals and get bums back on seats again. And because people the world over like cheap, it'll work.

 

There's no deceit with these types of LoCo airlines/hotels/rail tickets/concerts/carhire et al, the terms and conditions are there to be read. Surely when people click the tick box that says 'I've read the T&C's' that are hyperlinked, before the company can actually access your cash, they've actually read them?

 

 

Edit to fix predictive txt speak

 

Yes. typical O'Leary bounce by the look of it - get the bums back on the seats we know will be there and the passengers will flock in (er, hopefully).  The interesting bit is whether or not the offer will be taken up by those who've lost their trust in the airline although the O'Leary approach undoubtedly takes the view that there are a lot of people out there who are in it for a bargain and would still go for it, and he might well be right.

 

What could possibly derail him on all of this is what happens with the pilots and all their talk about action' to get improved employment conditions.  Presumably the gamble is that they won't or that they can be bought off relatively cheaply and that no regulator is going to try and force anything on him.  

 

As all seems to be quiet - or definitely unreported - on the latter front he might be on to a good bet.  The only regulators which appear to have shown any interest are the CAA - and they can only tell him what they would like him to do in terms of complying with EU legislation regarding alternative flights and compensation etc  - and the Irish Commission for Aviation Regulation which has enforcement powers in respect of EU261 for flights originating in the Irish Republic and has been sitting on Ryanair's tail in that respect.   And, as I understand things, as an Irish registered airline only the IAA can deal with him in respect of his licence to operate (apart from such as the CAA dealing with him in respect of safety/operational .non-compliance in the airspace etc for which they are responsible).

[rockershovel]

O'Leary undoubtedly depends on the principle that if you expand your catchment sufficiently and cut prices far enough, quality of service is irrelevant because there will ALWAYS be more customers, and most of those you drive away will return for lack of real options.

 

I've also read that there are good reasons to believe that RyanAir's business structure depends upon continuous expansion, so that increased turnover funds unprofitable historic and current activities at the cost of increased future liabilities. This presumably means aircraft, their only major capital cost.

 

What a lot of Western travellers don't realise, although O'Leary undoubtedly knows this, is that low-cost carriers occupy over 50% of the Asian market, compared to 25% or so in the West. He undoubtedly sees a lot of further room for growth.

Edited September 30, 2017 by rockershovel

[Titan]

Well I suppose that is Mr O'Leary's Pilot shortage solved!

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41464934

 

Wonder if that was what he was waiting for but they just lasted longer than he thought?

Edited October 2, 2017 by Titan

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Whatever Ryanair's problems are, Monarch's are far worse...

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41464934

[Oldddudders]

Whatever Ryanair's problems are, Monarch's are far worse...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41464934

I think that’s what Titan told us (above).

[Guest]

Whatever Ryanair's problems are, Monarch's are far worse...

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41464934

 

A real shame. Surprised to read that Monarch were the UK's 5th biggest airline with a history going back to 1968. We flew Monarch from Luton to Alicante and back last October/November. The fare was a few quid each dearer than Easyjet but the experience was far nicer, making it worth every penny.

I notice one of the substitute Monarch flights back from Alicante this morning has a BA flight number, following the same timings.

Personally, it would be nice to have more choice on short-haul aside from Easyjet/Ryanair, but if Monarch couldn't make it work, what hope?