I worked for Ryanair on the ramp for a while.
The front line and ramp staff themselves are the best bunch of hardworking folks you could ever meet. Everyone of us on the ramp worked like dogs every day.
The management however !! The impression we got from management was that we were lazy layabout scum. The memos winging their way up from the frequent cost saving meetings in the glorified HQ called the "Whitehouse" complaining of our attitude and lack of professionalism made that abundantly clear.
We actually had our toilets locked for approx 5 days due to the "immature" graffitti written inside. This required all rampers to walk out onto the ramp and back up into the terminal building for a p*ss for Gods sake!!! Find me any company toilet devoid of graffitti anywhere in the world. I, like most people, think its silly to write graffitti in toilets but should I be denied use of facilities because its there?
It wasnt unusual to do four or five 25 minute turnarounds back to back, and by that I mean as you push one aircraft back another is taxiing in, in total we'd do about 9 aircraft a day, sometimes up to 11 per day. Shattering rock breaking hard work every day for a little more than minimum wage.
Then there was the late shift...most of the guys finished at 10.30. There was always only 5 lads scheduled after this time. About 7 aircraft land in a 25 minute slot around 11.00 pm in Dub. Take away one guy to do toilets, one to do water and that leaves 3 lads to deal with 7 aircraft in a 25 minute time frame!! Madness, unsafe, ridiculous nightmare every night 364 times a year.
Ryanair training however stated that 2 guys were required for water and 2 for toilet servicing, however that would leave one guy to deal with 7 aircraft !!! and herein lies the crux. If you damage an aircraft while doing toilets/water (which has happened due to the hazards of reversing the trucks at night with no one to guide you) Ryanair ask you where your second man was and "Hey didnt we tell you in training its a 2 man job". However if on the night you insist on a second man youre told to get real and do the job or else...hence theyre covered on all fronts.
This "real world versus training world" difference is rampant in Ryanair. The ground equipment in Ryanair Dub is diabolical. To make all the equipment the ground staff use 100% safe would cost a fortune. Theyre willing to keep letting accidents happen as a result of bad equipment as its the cheaper option.
I know there are some court cases coming up regarding ex-ramp staff but as usual im sure these will be settled on the court steps much to Ryanairs delight. Someday I hope someone will take them all the way inside.
I only saw operations from my lowly position but if this mentality exists in other departments its only a matter of time before something serious happens. I hate saying that but alas its what I believe, having experienced first hand this companys attitude towards its workers.