RyanAir versus GSM

[Hombre]

Well, after 6 years commuting AGP/EDI courtesy of GSM (Flyglobespan) I succumbed to FR's new route over Christmas with my family to celebrate Hogmanay in Edinburgh...

O.M.G.

What on earth are FR doing?

I have never been met by the most scary CC in my life. The plane was dirty esp the toilets, the horrendous colour scheme inside the A/C was definitely designed to keep you awake along withn the non-reclining seating. Instead of a smile, (per GSM) you are provided with a shout of "Sit at the back ONLY". This non-seating allocation is a myth when justified for quicker loading of SLF. It is simply not the case. The whole concept of heralding everyone in at one time just raises everyone's blood pressure at the gate with absolutely no idea where you are gong to sit. Any pretence that flying is better quality way to travel is dispelled on FR flights.

Don't get me wrong though, the FR CC work very hard, probably twice as hard as GSM crew, but they have to sell more and indeed sell extra products such as the scratch cards etc that no one buys....The only thing they did that GSM so far do not insist on is to ensure all glass bottles/liquor etc are placed under seats and not above. This strikes me as very sensible..


In short, GSM just do it better, with smiles, at the same price, and give this old fart a semblence that the act of flying to your destination is still 'special' - just!

One final point: the main reason we tried Fr was that GSM's return flight is now a 6:00am jobby - not great when travelling with kids. I will continue to commute each month with GSM using this eff'in early morning departure. Read into that what you will...

[nivsy]

Hombre,

Yes it is a shock the first time you step onto a Ryanair 737 and see the colours and the noise...and the selling...etc etc...you just cannot sleep!

Out of interest do they "remote" park at AGP (have seen them on airbridge and at remote stands).

Yep better off with GSM (I agree).

How was the passenger load?

nivsy

[Hombre]

Returning on the 4th Jan (Sunday) we got an airbridge but i know why you ask as normally we are remote parked/bussed in. This is same at EDI too.

The flight was 99%/full on both outward and return trips but due to the euro mostly with Spanishpax . FR CC really need to learn one word (atras) if they want to get all future Spanish cabins loaded in time.

Incidentally, there was a lot of alcohol 'repossessions' going on by the FR CC, during mid-flight, as the lovely, friendly Andalucians (god bless them) don't quite get that they have to buy MOL's liquor on route if they want a fiesta on board!! :}

Feliz Ano Nuevo to all..........:cool:

[heidelberg]

Alcohol bought at Airport - whether duty free or duty paid - is never supposed to be opened during flight - regardless of airline you're on. International rule.

[joniveson]

I took my first Ryanair flight a couple of weeks ago from Alicante to Leeds-Bradford and had a totally different experience to the one you described. The crew were all very friendly and efficient, especially the girl who moved out of the exit row so that I could sit there at no extra charge, the aircraft was clean and tidy, we left on time, we arrived on time and my suitcase was waiting for me on the carousel by the time I got there. What more could I ask for? As for the interior - blue leather seats with yellow trim - what's wrong with that?

Boarding wise it was certainly no worse than my Monarch flight back which took forever even with allocated seating. It always amazes me how long it takes people to get on a plane and sit down - Japanese airlines start boarding a 777 15mins before departure time and still leave on schedule so why do we faff so much in Europe?

Low cost carriers would not be my first choice under most circumstances but as they are the only ones now flying the routes I want to travel on I am left with no choice. However, Ryanair were no worse, and indeed better in some cases, than the others I could have chosen.

[Seat62K]

I'm with joniveson on this one.
When I read about Ryanair "horror stories" I think there must be some sort of parallel universe.
And before someone says I've just been lucky and had untypical experiences, I flew Ryanair between 40 and 50 times in 2008 alone. I could not have been "lucky" so many times.

[aviatordom]

Ryanair aren't that bad. Infact, i would be very keen to fly with them again since i haven't been with FR since 2006!

As for the interior, a matter of personal taste i guess. I personally prefer it to the older style cabin which is now starting to show it's age here and there.

Then again, for such cheap fares, i can't complain about their cabins!

[smala01]

The more "bad" experiences, and the more people "never" flying FR again is fantastic news for me.

More £10 flights coming my way.

Im celebrating my 100th Ryanair sector in feb - I wonder if there will be a cake waiting for me? :)

... oh and never more than 20 mins late on any sector.

[Hombre]

Eh...I am sorry people, I thought the topic of this thread was clear.

I am after views of SLF who have flown recently with BOTH low cost airline companies. i.e we are comparing like with like to reach a conclusion whether my view is fair.

In short, those who have never flown GSM are not adding anything positive to this thread and are simply hijacking it. :cool:

[Scumbag O'Riley]

Actually the only question in your post was

"What on earth are FR doing?"

So you are in fact only soliciting the views of people who have flown on Ryanair ;)

[Abusing_the_sky]

What on earth are FR doing?



Making money? Isn't that what all businesses do?

The plane was dirty esp the toilets
So this was a late flight. You will have clean toilets in the morning, first flight of the day. In average, an FR a/c does 8 sectors a day. Given the fact that there would be (with full-ish loads) an average of 1440 pax a day, it's unlikely you will find clean toilets. The crew are not supposed to clean the toilets, we are not trained to clean the a/c nor the toilets. We are not provided with any cleaning products and equipment, so Health and Safety comes in place. What we will do is make sure the toilets are dressed at all times. We are not cleaners.

(the following is a generalization and the word "you" is not directed personally at the the thread starter)

Before blaming it on the crew, can i just ask you to look at pax too. As a courtesy to other pax, all we ask is to clean after yourself. There is no need to wee all over the floor and miss the toilet, or place used (yes, disgusting but women do it more often than you think) tampons in the hand towels dispenser (there is a bin in the toilet!!!). Also, there is no need to leave used diapers in the toilets; there's no need to allow your children to jump all over the Pringles they just dropped on the floor. Shall i keep going?:\
When we ask to "hand over all the rubbish, newspapers or magazines to the crew as they pass through the cabin" we actually mean it. Your bottle of water, your paper, your sandwich wrapper, your food leftovers. It's not the crew who made all that mess.
Turning around an a/c in 25mins is a bit of touch and go. I would rather do the safety checks in that time than picking up those (yes, that too happens, fairly often) knickers from the floor, after your little one just made a big fat No.2 and you decided it's ok to just leave it on the floor for the crew to pick it up.

"Sit at the back ONLY".
For some reason i doubt that very much. Maybe the crew was "shouting", as you put it, to move towards the back as quickly as possible to ensure the boarding is finished on time for departure.

The whole concept of heralding everyone in at one time just raises everyone's blood pressure at the gate with absolutely no idea where you are gong to sit.
This is the best time to use something we like to call "common sense". Yes, it is a free seating airline, there are no allocated seats simply because of the very short turn around. But how about you don't stop at row 4, blocking other pax behind you by taking your time to stow your bags, take your coat off, scratch your arse, yawn, stretch, and instead of that get in the row, let other pax pass and then do all of the above. Wouldn't that be more simple and with less stress?

the FR CC work very hard, probably twice as hard as GSM crew, but they have to sell more and indeed sell extra products such as the scratch cards etc that no one buys....

And that takes us to my first point. They are making money! Flights are in the majority cheap so no profit there. They have to keep the money coming in somehow.
We don't particularly like selling all that cra@p, scratch cards, those horrible calendars, Terravision tickets and so on. We are safety officers, not sales people. But if we don't do it, our jobs are on the line, we could get "invited" to the HQ for tea and biscuits but bring our own biscuits. And no, it's not that easy to "just leave". It's a job, it pays the bills and in this day an age, where so many people are being made redundant and lose their jobs, it's unlikely we could find another job. So we obey the rules and just work hard to keep being able to pay the bills.

I don't put FR on a pedestal. And i am sure GSM suit you better.
All i ask you to do is not to blame it on the CC all the time (i do know that CC can sometimes make your flight hell, there's bad eggs in every basket).

Hope this gave you a different view on FR CC.

Rgds,
ATS

[Hombre]

ATS, were YOU the scary CC I refered to?

[Abusing_the_sky]

I just tried to express my point of view and give you some insides of the CCs' side of the operation. I was also expecting a civilised virtual conversation/exchange of opinions.

Obviously i was wrong in my expectations.


Rgds,
ATS

[groundbum]

"ATS, were YOU the scary CC I refered to?"

I bet EVERY cabin crew thinks as ATS do every shift they work. Luckily for us passengers, they only think it and then get on with the job with a smile.

It's probably very therapuetic to be able to blow off on a forum like this anonynmously. I certainly wouldn't like to work in todays airline industry, ick. Well actually I would die and go to heaven to work in ground ops/apron type stuff, but that's once I've won the lottery so I don't need to live on the wage.

G

[Flyer126]

Well said, ATS!

is FR doing?"]

[Hombre]

ATS, you had too many "you"s in your post so it was difficult not to take it personally. Your comments re children seemed aimed at mine too but of course I may be wrong.

Look, at the end of the day, I am comparing the service provided between two specific low cost carriers.

It is clear to me GSM CC have got the better end of the stick so to speak. No need to beat me with the other end, eh?

Flyer126: I haven't a clue what you're on about.

[Scumbag O'Riley]

Excellent post Abusing_the_sky

[Abusing_the_sky]

(the following is a generalization and the word "you" is not directed personally at the the thread starter)



Hombre, if you read my post again, you will see i did write the above before i started expressing my opinion.


Rgds,
ATS

[Final 3 Greens]

Reading the content of ATS' post makes me pleased that I can afford to travel in a decent class on full service carriers and not suffer the loco experience.

[Seat62K]

"Final 3 Greens",
The "loco experience" you refer to is not confined to low cost carriers. I travel a fair bit in Club World and have witnessed obnoxious behaviour in that cabin, too. I fly a lot with Ryanair and, apart from the lack of allocated seating, find little to complain about.

[Scumbag O'Riley]

And I can afford to travel in a decent class on full service carriers too. But I choose to spend my money in a far more sensible way :ok:

[Flyer126]

"Hombre",
I was "on about" your grammar.

[Final 3 Greens]

Seat 62K

But the full service airlines do clean the aircraft and the loos before every trip, don't they?

Anyway, it's not Ryanair peeps (like ATS) that I am glad I avoid, when I have travelled with FR, I found the CC generally very good.

[Ivor_Novello]

Flew with ryanair 3 times over Christmas / New Year.

Prestwick- Bergamo
Turin - Shannon
Shannon - Prestwick

Total cost of the 3 flights £ 65 (including tax)
Total delay over 3 flights : none

Could I possibly complain about anything above ? No.

[pamann]

Why are we so intent on comparing Ryanair to every airline possible, easyjet, Air Berlin, Globespan blah blah blah...

We all know Ryanair are in a world of their own, we all know they don't issue seat numbers, charge for bags, charge the earth for a G'n'T. However like most things I bet those complaining paid peanuts for their seat and not the guy who paid 399 euros return to Dublin last minute but said nothing.

Some people shouldn't be allowed a credit card if they part with it so easily over the internet not really knowing what they are letting themselves in for.

I however use Ryanair a lot, pay peanuts and generally can't say a bad word about them other than the 18 year old crew who really wouldn't look out of place on the set of Prisoner Cell Block H, some of them are vicious and have no customer skills, or english language skills come to think of it. But at 2 pence return I don't expect a smiling lap dog, I can cope with the Latvian Rottweiler. :D

[LH2]

PFJI. I think ATS makes a very valid point about it being the passengers, not the crew, who make the aircraft dirty and embarkation difficult.

Now I'll just sit here and wait for someone to come back with "but I'm the customer" or words to that effect, so I can say to you: "hombre, no me seas gili****as" :ok:

[Hombre]

Apparently some pedant is claiming I can't write the Queen's English so I'm hardly going to understand your espanol now am I? :}

Being Scottish and having lost our language many centuries ago due to our English 'cousins' (albeit 4% still speak Scots Gaelic), I find the Andalucians a much better bunch to share my coffee with. Pointing out my odd grammatical mistake says more about the 'pointer' than I.

One of these days someone is going to reply to this thread taking into account the subject matter. Then again maybe the answer is obvious (from anyone who has flow GSM) and no one can be bothered confirming my views.

[clareprop]

....We are safety officers......

Well I'll be......and there was me thinking they were cabin crew.

[Hombre]

One other thing ... it may not be Co regs (judging by ATS's response) but I have seen GSM CC clean their toilets before, during and after "service".

I fully accept, however, that they probably have more time on their hands than FR CC for the reasons previously explained.

Re flight cost, I would also point out GSM are comparable to FR and more importantly charge less for the add-ons... i.e. credit card charges, 20kgs!! hold baggage & additional baggage and on-flight snacks etc...

[Dvorak]

I flew EDI-ALC with Ryanair and PMI-EDI with Globespan in November.

Crew were fine on both, the passengers behaved better on the Ryanair flight (probably the difference between a midday and an evening flight rather that anything else).

The Ryanair flight left a couple of minutes early I think, the GSM was late inbound but turned round quickly. We were stuck at the furthest corner of PMI waiting for it though.

GSM seats are comfier, and the pre-take-off advertising and jingles on Ryanair are just plain aggrevating. Both planes seemed clean enough.

The GSM flight had been put back four hours though, some passengers complained that they had not recieved notification (so, yes, had arrived four hours early).

My choice would just come down to price and convenience between the two, rather than anything else.

Though actually, I liked the Air Europa flight from VLC to PMI better than either.

[Manual Braking]

I am currently employed as flight crew with Ryanair, but worked on the ground at EDI on behalf of GSM in a previous life. Great bunch of people at GSM back then - enjoyed working with them. My package holiday to PMI was enjoyable and on schedule - that was a bit of a rarity during 'that summer of 2007'!

Flown with Ryanair a few times now. Pretty much always on schedule - yes, some of the cc even frighten me. Overall, you get what you pay for I suppose, and you do have a choice when it comes to those 'extras/add-ons'. I think both airlines are targeting different markets - hopefully there is enough room for them both at EDI (and I am not talking about space on what is an already congested apron!).

(Been into AGP a few times now - airbridge nearly every time. We keep on forgetting to tell the cc though, usually as we watch them extend the airstairs!)

As Harry Hill would say on his TV Burp:
...but which is better?......There's only one way to find out.......FIGHT!!!!:E

MB

[Hombre]

At last ... thanks guys, I appreciate your views/feedback.

I too think they are after separate markets. Re scary CC, I am afraid very few of them would win the 'X-Factor' either, no matter how good their voices :E.

[frnikolai]

I fly Ryanair back and forth to Poland and all over Europe all the time, and when going home to Poland - I am taking two kids aged 8 and 6. We get up at 3AM to be in Stansted by 4AM ready for our early flight.

Never been a problem to me, and when comparing Ryanair to all the other airlines. I personally think that they are the best.

Lets see if flyglobespan don't disappear like the rest...

Nikolai.

[The Real Slim Shady]

I can cope with the Latvian Rottweiler

She's Estonian and actually very sweet.

[ZFT]

Heidelberg,

Alcohol bought at Airport - whether duty free or duty paid - is never supposed to be opened during flight - regardless of airline you're on. International rule.

International rule. Are you sure? On some airlines this is the only way to get a drink and they will even chill your BYO wine. Done this many times in the past on RBA

[david.craig]

I understand you were commuting for free of GSM, but had you booked 3 weeks prior, what would the fare difference be between FR and GSM?
You get what you pay for, and with Ryanair, you get the heck of a lot for the cost paid.