Sorry, I've lost the plot on this one. Allegedly, pilots of LCAs are disregarding speed limits set by ATC (who of course work purely by intuition and telepathy - these stories of radars maintaining a vigilant watch are pure fairy stories, especially at Swanwick
) and because they don't maintain separation then they end up having to execute a go-around ... which of course takes considerably longer than the 15 seconds or so they would have saved by not maintaining separation!
What a load of complete and utter b0ll0x! If you upset ATC by disregarding them or ignoring their instructions, you can expect to find yourserf in the Biggin or Ockham hold for a very, very long time - and if you do it on approach you can expect tea and biccies with the CP pronto.
Sure, the LCAs have a habit of high speed taxis, but I have to admit that from what I have seen recently Michael Schumacher seems to have left his day job with Ryanair.
The CAA is responsible for the safety of ALL aircraft in UK airspace. Obviously, this journo has never heard of ramp checks!
As for Stelios' attack on the age of the aircraft operated by Ryanair, he should know better: mechanical and structural reliability is dependent on proper maintenance and no one has ever accused MO'L of skimping on that. In any case, the last crash in the UK of a B737 was that of a brand new aircraft at Kegworth, so give me older, more reliable technology rather than this computer driven stuff! And don't get me started on the B737's rudder actuators either...