I think Thunderbirdsix and others who attempt to defend FR staff. You are missing the point. The staff aren't the problem. The pilots are not the problem.
The problem with Ryanair is the corporate culture that permeates the whole organisation. This is management led and you know who encourages it. Thus we have this cack handed attempt by the Chief Pilot, who should know better and the McNamara to stifle comment on AvHerald. That would be fine if criticism of Ryanair was rare but right now it's endemic.
There are similar comments on nearly every forum that discusses Ryanair. I suppose the Mail will now receive a similar letter threatening them with court action. No doubt others will follow and PPRuNe and every other forum and online site with reader comments.
Actually the people to blame for all this are Ryanair management starting with O'Leary and working it's way down the chain. All his managers seem to ape his attitude and their utter disdain for their staff and customers is no secret. From the way the pilots and CC are treated to the way customers are treated. They've made enemies now. The Spanish are out to get them and it's hard to find anyone who likes Ryanair even those who use them regularly. It's hard to find a staff member who'll tell you they love to work for Ryanair.
They've gone too far and as a result every single incident no matter how minor is reported as a near disaster. The irony of the low fuel incidents in Madrid is that it demonstrated that correct and safe procedures were followed. But Joe Public thinks they nearly ran out of fuel.
It's said that all publicity is good publicity. Up to a point and I think Ryanair has crossed that point. They have lost the
PR battle in terms of safety despite the fact that they are in all probablity safer than many better known airlines. Once the public perceive Ryanair as unsafe, people will pay more to fly for other airlines. They will lose customers. One serious accident and they will lose a lot of customers.
O'Leary for all his business acumen has somehow managed to produce an company that has a reputation for unfriendliness, a company that tries to rip people off, a company that doesn't even pretend to value it's customers. A company that treats the people who work for it as mere commodities. A company that insults some of it's most important workers on a daily basis. A company that now is seen as unsafe to fly with by many people.
I never understood why Ryanair had to be so actively hostile and arrogant to virtually everyone it comes into contact with. It really doesn't cost anything to be friendly. There is no need for much of nonsense you get with Ryanair.
Imagine if not only Ryanair offered competitive fares but also was popular with it's customer base and had a loyal employee corps. Nothing could stop it growing.
It's puzzling.
Really Ryanair management should begin to rein in their attitudes and try and mend a few fences. Being nicer costs nothing. But it may already be too late.
Maybe just maybe, the withdrawal of the threat of legal action is a sign that common sense is beginning to prevail. The original intervention was ill judged and stupid. It simply looked like an attempted cover up. That would be fine if Ryanair was generally seen in a similar light to BA or Qantas or even Easyjet. But it's Ryanair and invariably any mention of it in the media is negative not to mention the antics of it's CEO who plays up his irritiating image of 'Paddy the wild Irishman'.
We'll see.