So, Skipness, as a frequent traveller on Ryanair you think I'm "slapped repeatedly across the gob".
Not the way I see it. Ryanair provides me with comfortable, modern aircraft, punctual schedules, good service and, above all, unbeatable value.
And no, I'm not a naive traveller who hasn't experienced anything else and therefore has no point of comparison. I have been flying as a passenger with commercial airlines for more than forty years and have plenty to compare Ryanair with.
Okay, I have yet to have anything go wrong. But let's say I had to find a hotel away from home at some point. Perusing just my forward bookings with Ryanair and not even considering the completed trips, I'd say I've saved between £500 and perhaps as much as £1000 compared with what I'd have paid on legacy carriers for the same journeys. Having paid for my hotel I'd still be quids in. And anyway, how often is it that Ryanair lets its passengers down in this way? Around 100 sectors to date and it hasn't happened to me. The laws of probability dictate that it can't simply be my good luck.
Ryanair
does care about its public image. Only last week I heard someone from the airline on Radio 4's "You And Yours", taking flak on the Stansted check-in/bag drop fiasco and doing a good
PR job. There was absolutely none of the "they pay peanuts so why are they complaining?" that some people associate with the airline. If Ryanair believed that bad publicity is good publicity it would not have made someone available for interview.
Having said that, Ryanair can, in my opinion, be its own worst enemy. All the talk about paying to use the toilet and travelling standing only confirms the bad image that some have of the company. Ryanair needs to attract these people - yet at times it seems to be giving them more of a reason never to fly with them. If I hadn't "taken the plunge", as it were, some three years ago I, too, would be set against flying Ryanair, given the negative coverage in the media.