I have to say that my biggest problem with this program is that it centred solely on the cost of flying with RYR. I was hoping that there would be at least slightly more interest (although I shouldn't have expected it in fairness) in the way in which Mr O'Leary and his company treats and employs his staff. True, there are plenty who enjoy working for RYR but they (and I realise that I might be talking about you) are also working on some of the poorest conditions in Europe. There are those of us who take the opinion that flying is a career, not a job, and unfortunately the working practices of RYR which have allowed them to become so profitable have also degraded and dehumanised the industry as a whole.
This leads to the debate of paying for a TR etc, which is another story. But my 20 cents (I actually use sterling but so the saying goes):
I am saddened that the general public, who now expect to fly to Malaga, Scally-cante or wherever else they head to to catch their sun for 30 quid each way, are so ignorant (and are seemingly unwilling to be made conscious) of the cost of:
- flying a 70 million dollar jet aeroplane through some of the busiest skies on the face of the earth, burning (I must admit the exact number has slipped my mind, I was in work VERY early this morning) c6 tonnes of jet fuel (at between £700 and £1000/tonne - I believe this is accurate in £, it may be in $, if so I apologise, I burn it, I don't pay for it)
- paying the people who fly inside it a respectable wage for doing a reasonable days work (and this brings out the sad truth that most people think we are work shy and overpaid.)
- the insurance of the aeroplane, and those who fill its seats, both passengers and crew
- the other costs, such as 'security' charges, airport taxes, landing fees, ATC charges, overnight costs, ongoing maintenance of aircraft to some (if not very possibly THE) highest safety standards in the world
that when someone (and sadly in the race for the bottom, where employees come a very firm last, there are few who do these days) charges the honest cost of taking each person in each seat to their destination, they go bust.
All because Michael O'Leary told the public 'look, you can fly from A to B for 5 quid!'. And the public, sheepishly, follow - without concern for the people who have to work for people like (and not necessarily just MO'L, who just happens to be the best at it) the airline bosses who will happily say 'we put safety first'. I can tell you that that is a lie. It is a lie in the strongest sense of the word. Flight Ops put safety first, and manage to make an airline safe.
I risk heading off at a tangent, if I haven't already done so. My point is that I wish the program could have made the general public aware, and interested in, Ryanair's employees - many of whom had, as they saw it, no choice but to work for them. The reason that they pay for their own uniforms, training (which costs up to £30,000, before having to cover the costs of living WITHOUT PAY during 2.5 months of TR and line training before safety pilot release), medicals, overnights, the reason that they are contractors with no guaranteed income and the risk of being sent home at a minute's notice, who fly 6 sector days and work for longer than anyone can reasonably expected to do so safely and without serious fatigue, is because Mr O'Leary took advantage of the general public's biggest failing - he offered them a bargain.
Strong words possibly, and I know that some people won't agree that he's the harbinger of doom. But remember that Michael O'Leary was once quoted, when asked how he managed his employees so effectively, as answering with one word.
Fear.
I hope that to those of you who are planning to fly with the Blues and Yellows in the near future will at least take the few minutes to read this and understand where the £6 fare comes from.