"Bye Bye Baby" on FR jets at BHX

[fatboy slim]

Shocked today to taxi out and see this written in massive letters of the side of the Ryanair machine in front of us. I would be utterly ashamed to fly it. I know you drivers don't get much of a say at FR but this is taking the p###. Actually wishing for the closure of an airline and the associated redundancies is crass in the extreme in the current environment.

I'm sure this purile nonsense has been going on between FR and EZY at LTN for years but we dont need it spreading.

No axe to grind BTW, not a Baby employee, just an ordinary line pilot sad to see another nail being driven into the coffin of this once great industry.

[Xeque]

Agree. Totally unacceptable. But look at the clown who is running the show? Do you really expect anything better?

[Paulo Capelas]

Very sad indeed

[Dan Winterland]

Pikey Air are really plumbing the depths. They are representative of what is the worst in our industry.

[EI-CFC]

I'm pretty sure it's been flying around a while now.

Can't say it bothers me all that much. They're entitled to say pretty much what they like, after all.

There are much more pressing things taking place in the industry right now..

[Johnny F@rt Pants]

It's been around for years now, as have several others relating to other airlines that FR compete with.

I was told by one of our contract captains a couple of years ago who had previously flown for FR that he had arrived in Pisa with an aircraft that had "arrividerci Alitalia" on the side. The refueller refused to fuel that aircraft, which had to depart to Genoa in the hope of picking up fuel there before proceeding en-route.

[FlyboyUK]

It is sad indeed, although that plane has been around from years now. Along with similar titles like "bye bye Latehansa" and "bye bye Skyeurope" etc

[Shed-on-a-Pole]

Ryanair has been doing this for a while.

Other gems to watch for include:

"Bye Bye Easyjet"
"Arrividerci Alitalia"
"Bye Bye Air Berlin"
"Auf Wiedersehen Lufthansa"
"Bye Bye SkyEurope"

All in the best possible taste.

[European flyer]

Typical below-the-belt Ryanair rubbish totally lacking taste and consideration for employees and clients of said airline they publically ridicule and wish the failure of.

Just one of many reasons you'll never catch me on a Ryanair plane.

[Dream Buster]

Dyinair?

:yuk:

DB

[flowy50]

we should all boycott fr and then let all the other sing to him the arrogant :mad: what he is . it will come back and bite him one day the :mad: i hate the man:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

[Flitefone]

Who cares what Ryanair write on their aircraft? Thats like worrying about the headlines in 'The Sun' - totally pointless.

Virgin used to write four is better than two on all of their planes (bashing BA777s vs the Virgin 4 engined fleet...) until of course Virgin ordered the 787. Almost a waste of paint!

More to the point with Baby is the question of how long Lufthansa will take to clean up the (huge) BMI losses. Not long I imagine, LH are busy planning cuts at Austrian and LH Cargo too, both of which are also in deep 'doo doo', so LH will have had plenty of practice at where to wield the knife.

One thing that will not be in the LH considerations for sure is what happens to be written on the side of a few Ryanair aircraft.

My prediction is that Baby will either be sold or closed before the end of 2009. Also that all of the BMI UK scheduled operations that do not include LHR will get the chop (to Flybe's delight) and that LH will switch BMI @ LHR to routes that suit LH & Star. eg. new Kiev, extra Tel Aviv etc, and continue to lose domestic routes that don't produce much for LH (more Flybe and BA delight). We've seen a good deal of that already.

LH wants to steal London's, LHR's & BA's premium traffic, not Baby's low yield bucket and spade pax from the UK regions.

Note that Kiev and Moscow are two of Austrians' stronger destinations/connections through Vienna, a hint that LH driven capacity reductions on those routes from VIE are in the offing too. More likley that London and not Vienna produces the premium traffic to these cities.

Im' sure that Ezy and Ryr will sweep up the Baby business and employ more staff to do it.

Who knows we may even see Jet2 picking up a bit of a baby and even one or two aircraft.

FF

[racedo]

Aircraft in question has been around for 3 years and its singular as there is only one with that slogan.

[GusHoneybun]

Not a Ryanair exclusive trait I'm afraid.

A few years ago when Flybe started CWL-EDI in competiton with BMi Baby, they hired the Bay City Rollers to sing their hit "Bye Bye Baby" to the first set of boarding pax. Admitted this was more like a little inter-company ribbing rather than the nasty undertones of daubing one's aircraft like that.

There is a thread on one of the forums about how ryanair are now running a competition for pax to come up with new ways of charging their punters! Lowest common denominator.

[Ian Brooks]

Flitefone
I thought the regional operation was doing rather better than the European
Heathrow set up and as LH are on very good terms with MAN I can
see the need for bmi regional to connect with their flights, but thats another
story and not really for this forum

Ian

[bluepilot]

declining loads, new 737s being delivered by the dozen that have to be paid for and now sale /lease back is more dodgy due to credit crunch, etc etc

soon will be BYE BYE RYANAIR!

and good riddance!

[GayFriendly]

Blue Pilot - Bye Bye Ryanair and good riddance?

Please, grow up a bit. I thought this was a forum for adults........I don't agree with such shameless efforts to put the competition out of business but wishing the demise of any company whatever you think about them is disrespectful and tactless to those who get paid by said company and therefore whose livelihoods would be put at risk by its demise.

Which makes you as bad as Ryanair in my opinion

[bluepilot]

so I am as bad as ryanair! I dont think so...

This company has behaved discracefully in the past and i cant see the arrogant bordering on dam right evil attitude changing in the future.

So to hell with them I say and good riddance!! (just in case my feelings were not clear before!!)

[INKJET]

Internal information suggest that bmibaby is more than holding its own and providing very useful forward cash flow whilst the business side of the group is finding business hard to come by which is no surprise. As to what LH may or may not do one should remember that LH have been a significant share holder in bmi for 10 years, indeed baby was set up under their watch and approval, baby reduction in fleet size is part of a lease commitment reduction on going through out the group (bmi)

LH own 75% of their fleet and in the longer term bmi will own more of its future fleet, as for baby who knows, a fleet of 17 aircraft is not big beans either way for LH and yes they may sell or close it, or of course keep it and grow it, but its not a priority for the board of bmi at this time, bmibaby winter program will be out shortly and that should leave things more settled for all until the spring of 2010.

A few letter on the side of a Ryanair (will not bother bmi or LH) everyone knows its par for the course of MOL and many pax have no idea what it means.

Looking at Ryanair it seems to me and others that they have over ordered new aircraft in the down turn and have had to find new routes at airports that have higher costs and delays than many of the airports used in its past growth pattern.

The plan to abloish checkin desks is an interesting developement, but it could go very wrong if as it seems it is desgined to screw yet more money from unsuspecting pax.

Hopefully things will settle down and there will be jobs for all

[BALLSOUT]

bluepilot, Obviously another failed job applicant. Get over it, Ryanair will be arround for a long time yet.

[LPFR]

As said, those titles are flying around for years already. But theres no "Bye Bye Air Berlin" as said. Out of curiosity, you may catch:

EI-DLF - "Bye Bye Skyeurope"
EI-DLG - "Zegnamy Pll Lot"
EI-DLM - "Bye Bye Latehansa"
EI-DLN - "Bye Bye Baby"
EI-DLO - "Bye Bye EasyJet"

EI-CSZ - "Arrivederci Alitalia" is not flying anymore.

[bluepilot]

ballsout, you assume alot dont you? I wouldnt lower myself to even apply let alone work for the evil pikey, because i am throwing back at ryanair what it spouts about others makes me a failed applicant! LOL grow up AND LOOK AT WHAT THEY ARE SPOUTING. If you work for them and are proud of this rediculous playground chanting on the side of their aircraft then you are beyond help :yuk:

[bluepilot]

exactly scratchingthesky, Ryanair are experts at diverting publicity away from themselfs when times are tough, chanting and pointing the finger at other airlines , making accusations about their balance books or viabilty which often have no base of fact at all.

The FACTS are that ryanair is in a very tough financial position, as scratchingthesky pointed out they HAVE to take delivery of 63 new 737s, their normal re-financing channels have dried up due to the credit crunch, load factors are down, pulling off routes, blaming airports for their woes (Dublin , STN etc). shutting down of check in, years of treating crews and passengers like low life....it all adds up to a very tough time for ryanair, and they hope by diverting attention away from themselfs that the real truth does not come out.

the truth is out there!!

[TartinTon]

scratchingthesky...I understand that RYR hedged at $129 for the months Nov-Jan only...after that they were marginally or 0 hedged which actually gives them a massive cost advantage over their rivals for the remainder of the summer and well into 2010 as many companies actually bought forward fearing the $200 dollars a barrel cr@p that was being touted a while back :eek::eek::eek:

[harrogate]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v315/harrogate/BMIRYAN.jpg

[ryanair1]

Harrogate - your post is the best on this subject so far.

dont you guys have better things to discuss than what we write on our planes?

anyway its all true. bmi baby will be down the plughole quicker than you can shout 'abortion'

[gate 22]

The thing is bmi baby or easyjet or any airline may go down the plug hole. However if they do 90% of the British public will have a lot of sympathy. If FR go down the plug hole then the public will be split, as FR have become the dogs b-----ks of the air. I have never come across a product whereby a lot of people I know avoid like the plague and are vocal about it. These people have nothing to do with aviation, they are just travellers.

[G SXTY]

It's a charmless airline, run by a fairly unpleasant individual. They don't get a penny of my cash, and I cheerfully pay more to use their competitors.

Comparisons with The Sun are quite apt.

[gate 22]

Comparisons with The Sun are quite apt.


Exactly my thoughts. They have a limited market, and I would rather walk than fly with them. The character at the top and his attitude is a disgrace. Why can he not put a sock in it. Does he not realise that all publicity aint necessarily good. Yes he is always in the head lines, but it never does FR any favours. I am sure that the real workers within the airline also tire of his rant.
Bye Bye Baby produced a smile many years ago, but the joke is long dead. Is there any other industry where competitors actually run-down their opponents to such an extent as FR does. Most people don't appreciate this unprofessional way.

[Telstar]

Don't make the mistake of thinking we Pilots are happy about these slogans or think they are funny. It is quite embarrassing and humiliating to turn up somewhere in Europe with a slogan that offends everyone from the Air Traffic Control to the baggage handlers, we often end up bearing the brunt of their ill feelings. This super aggressive attitude to everything and everyone is counter productive sometimes. It's why we get delaying vectors into Madrid and Iberia get preferential treatment, Management fail to see that it ends up being counter productive!

[racedo]

Is there any other industry where competitors actually run-down their opponents to such an extent as FR does.

You mean you have never seen the ads the Bearded one used to run against BA ?

http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/news/845771/Virgin-Atlantic-repaints-planes-part-campaign-against-BA-AA-alliance?DCMP=ILC-SEARCH

Virgin uses BA gaffe in latest ad campaign | Media | MediaGuardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2001/nov/20/advertising.virginrichardbranson)

The print media campaign after BA was found guilty of pinching Virgin passengers was along the lines of "Virgin, even the Judges award us ahead of BA" etc etc

[gate 22]

racedo

I suppose I am generalising
Yes I remember all those.... I was kind of thinking of other industries, like the supermarkets engage in a bit of banter, with regards to the price of products etc but they tend to stop short of 'piss off Asda', and I just thought that there is some kind of law against running down the competition directly in this way.

[valexfly]

I'm an italian, ex Alitalia, and for me it's quite funny to have Arrivederci Alitalia, if the fuel guy idiot and ingnorant from Pisa ( so for sure a ******* Communist like alla tuscany idiots) doesn't want to fuel my plane he can **** off and be fired.
He is a fuking slave if he doesn't fuel I'll make sure he's going to work somewhere else, now we have to take order from the fueller? the cpt has to depends from a servant? no thanks!

Alitalia it's actually one of the worst airlines in europe, and with it's pilot the symptom of the italian corruption inefficence and complete inattitude to aviation.
The story of Alitalia it's unfortunately very bad, as I heard, you guys will see a big scandal documented by a journalist about az pilots taking drugs ecc ecc..one year ago i saw myself on a news paper one died for overdose ecc + the thing i had to see with my eyes.
If ryanair wants to make a joke about this idiots he's entitled to do it for sure, ryan and easy are still being shafted by assholeclearence italy every day..to save the zombie alitalia with his superfantastic pilots with 6 stripes and 3 stars..who are actually the joke of aviation..
Everytime i see the arrivederci Alitalia at stansted onestly..I'm very happy..Alitalia Zombie can do everything he wants..at least..let Ryanair jokes about these superidiots hoping for them less cocaine and more professionalism

[Coquelet]

In the past, I have flown several times (as a passenger) to Italy on EI-CSZ (Arrivederci Alitalia) and nothing special ever happened at the Italian airports.
I was on a Bergamo-Charleroi flight wednesday, it was EI-DLN "Bye bye Baby" and not many passengers (if any) paid attention to what was written on it. Most of them were Italian or Belgian and don't even know who is that Baby.

[Trash_Hauler]

Never have and never will fly with Pikey Air. This is just one of MANY reasons.

[egnxema]

Maybe a few people need to calm down a bit.

The "Bye Bye" slogans may not mean hoping the competitor carrier goes out of business, just that they are pushed off competing routes.

Anyone in an airline that does not belief that pushing the competitor carrier off the route is delightful is not in the real world.

It is what competition is all about. It happens on every competitive route, and there are competition laws in place to prevent airlines working as a secret cartell.

I dont work for FR, or any of the LoCos, but am fully aware that the airline I work for does engage in price wars with the aim of pushing the competitor off the route.

Clearly we do not wish competitor airlines out of business, no way, but we are cheered up no-end when they pull off routes we fly.

Happy flying everyone. The sky is a big place. Airlines that do their service well - full, loco, charter - all deserve a long life.

Peace be the journey :-)

[Chesty Morgan]

It is what competition is all about.

True. And some people are gentlemanly and magnanimous about it. And some are just Cu**s.

Simples.

[Topslide6]

ryanair1

anyway its all true.

Care to state your source and show some evidence for your statement?

I've already been sent to the naughty corner once for apparently 'personally abusing' you when you made yet another of your sweeping unfounded and untrue statements. After all, if it looks like a plant pot then it most probably is a plant pot. Saying so is no longer allowed apparently. I know you won't state any evidence as you can't.

Ryanair are like the playground bully, trying to push others around and blame whoever the hell they can for their failings in the rather desparate hope that any sort of attention will not fall on their own deficiencies. Bullies inevitably get found out in the fullness of time.

Guess what....the market is crap for everyone and that includes Ryanair. With bells on.

[bluepilot]

Money Central - Times Online - WBLG: Twenty reasons never to fly Ryanair (http://timesbusiness.typepad.com/money_weblog/2009/03/20-reasons-not-to-fly-ryanair.html)

[INKJET]

There will be a lot of changes in Europe this year, Ryanair need to find finance for 50+ new aircraft at a cost of at least $750 million and will find it more and more difficult to churn their 3 year old aircraft on which much of their business plan depends. Ryanair have enjoyed a huge advantage since it pledged large orders post 9/11 in many ways the purchase and lease back of aircraft is the business and not flying people around for next to nothing.

Don't get me wrong, all credit to MOL for taking Boeing and the market by the balls, but the pro Ryanair Ppruners are sometimes taking in by the bull that comes out of MOL mouth and appear to think that Ryanair can do no wrong, history tends to prove otherwise. Who would have thought 2 years ago that many of our banks would be bust in all but name with shares now 95% lower than back then. As the pressure mounts on Ryanair they will have to constantly seek ways to lower costs and increase revenue, for pax we all know what that means, more importantly for crews in a market place awash with trained crews it can only mean lower real incomes.

Cadets will only be paid when they fly and to avoid any union problems with Captains they will use an ever increasing number of contracting companies.

Ryanair do many things very well and rightly have a high reputation for on time performance and reliability and of course price, their cabin are by and large stunning (then again so are many Eastern European prostitutes) the big danger for the rest of the airline industry will come when MOL moves on and they get someone with a little more charm, Ryanair will cease to be the butt of jokes (the Times "20 reasons not to fly Ryanair" article this week) provided they don't run out of cash first, we all know of Ryanair assests, few know the true story of their debts and its one from the other that matters in the end when credit is hard to come by.

[racedo]

Inkjet

They don't turn aircraft around in 3 years the norm is 6 to 7 and given they sold 8 for 170 Million then buying 50 for 750 is good business but even then that is false as amazingly they sold quite a few of their options onto someone else. Its nice that they have also had cash in as deposits for aircraft they have yet to deliver to people like Garuda etc.

Info is out there its just a pity you don't bother to google it but resort to the same cheap one liners.

Surprisingly credit is easy to come by when the assets you buy are credit funded by the US taxpayer.

[RED WINGS]

A deeply unpleasant company! If any member of the press is reading you may be interested to know that almost every airline crew member I know wouldnt even let there mother in Law fly Ryanair!!! I for one will not lose any sleep when they go down the pan.

[Seat62K]

With reference to the "Money Central" link at the bottom of the previous page....

If only offering really cheap seats for midweek travel is a reason not to fly Ryanair, then none of us will ever fly again as this is true for all airlines as far as I am aware. Should we boycott them all?

Ryanair only flies at "obscene hours". What nonsense!

"1p flights are never 1p"? Yes they are! I've paid 1p each way on numerous occasions and can even recall a time when I flew (from Stansted to Dublin and back, I think) for less than 1p each way - i.e., for absolutely nothing.

Where criticism is warranted, fine (e.g., the "hard sell" onboard, the horrible fanfare, the website's poor functionality, the lack of a customer services' email address etc.).

[smith]

These slogans have been around for ages but I still can't believe that a professional airline pilot could call himself a professional by flying an aircraft around like that. Being a professional in any line of work assumes an air of dignity and pride in their behaviour both inside and outside of the workplace. These slogans are the most unprofessional of things and any pilot prepared to fly one should be charged with bringing the profession into disrepute. Unfortunately these "professionals" are not allowed to be members of any professional body thus are exempt from any such charges.

[INKJET]

Another reply from the spin macine, 50% of people here think your on Ryanair payroll the rest know that you'd like to be, as for the American tax payer funding Ryanair, well maybe in Bush era, but charity starts at home and that ain't anywhere near Dublin.

Let revisit this in a years time and see where we all are, there are many airlines with plans and aircraft commitments that remain unfunded

[LPFR]

Why should a pilot be to blame if the aircraft he is scheduled to fly on has one of those kind of logos? Does that makes him/her less good? That's ridicolous. It has nothing to do with the pilot, just with the ones from the airline that wanted those titles written on.

[Gold Rivet]

Odie we're tired of the same old rhetoric. Give it up.

[Seat62K]

Yes, it will be interesting to see what position Ryanair is in twelve months from now.

Some argue that Ryanair copied the Southwest model. Thinking about it, I feel the airline which most closely resembles Ryanair is People Express. Now I know there are differences (e.g., the latter's trans-Atlantic operation) but no two airlines are ever going to be identical. My point is look what happened to People Express - swallowed by Continental!

The history of Western civil aviation is one of mergers, acquisitions and bankruptcies.

[johnnychips]

Bet you ten bob 95% of the passengers don't notice what's written on the plane.

But, blimey, it gets you guys wound up!

[racedo]

as for the American tax payer funding Ryanair, well maybe in Bush era, but charity starts at home

Course it does and Export Credit funding is a way of ensuring US goods made by US workers get bought overseas, they do it for big capital items but most especially for the big military expenditure from o/seas, Israel just get loans which congress write off every year.

UK does it as well hence why UK taxpayer paid for Saddam's gear in Gulf War 1.

[Evileyes]

Yeah, whatever. Put it on the Ryanair thread.