Originally Posted by
CARR30
Wildweeble
You do not have to fly Ryanair. You could try Flybe Southampton / Limoges or else buy a diesel car. You hate Ryanair so much but to save a few pence on fuel or an extra hour or so on the channnel crossing you betray your principles and supposedly your safety.
The truth is that Ryanair is a bargain, is convenient, not that bad and has given thousands of us a chance to enjoy cheap sejours in our French second homes.
I'd find it highly amusing if the Stansted/Limoges route was axed the way that Clermont Ferrand was, except for the fact the I have a house in Haute Vienne and know full well that a 900 mile round trip by car is not something for the weekend.
I'll certainly try Flybe, thanks. Perhaps I haven't made my point entirely clear. The issue under discussion here is priority board for families with young children. The point was raised that without priority boarding, it is possible, probable even, that parents and young children will be separated onboard. This is unequivocably a safety issue - and for all of the reasons expounded by others here. It is clear that FR really hasn't thought this one through properly. And it hasn't happened YET (
pace my principles). But we are told it will.
As for other FR safety issues, I'm kept well informed by a friend who is an FR captain and by the general debate. If I thought it was unsafe to fly FR at present, I simply wouldn't - same as I tend not to lay down on the railway tracks when the express is due.
But I do have concerns over the corrosive nature of the FR management mindset. Yes, I can choose to be treated like scum in return for a low fare, and I'm perfectly entitled to resent it. But when that mindset has a palpable relationship to a safety issue, we should all be concerned.