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Old 9th Jun 2006, 13:30
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I DID see the interview. The lady did NOT slam Ryanair, but she did point out the difference in culture between Ryanair & Southwest, and in fact, she and the programmer makers were complimentary of Moll's skill to turn a huge loss maker into such a profitable organization. He was also complimented for his "cojones" to place one of the biggest aircraft orders ever, when the airline business was heading for collapse after 9/11. Unfortunately no-one can deny his ability to make a buck.
It just so happens I saw the interview as well, which is why you will note the comments I made are balanced and without prejudice.
As for the "pikey" word...well feel free to be offended by my comments to suit your own indignant sounding position (and just for clarification here, my terms of reference are different to yours..so that makes me racist?..get real.. I wonder if I'm also racist on account of my dislike of black jelly beans?)
As for the remaining content of the programme, yes there was a certain admiration expressed by the success MOL and his merry band, this did not however disguise the impression that Southwest view's Ryanair's management style as rather distasteful.
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Old 9th Jun 2006, 13:42
  #162 (permalink)  
 
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atyourcervix

I saw the programme and my quotes are word for word without contradiction.
You can draw your own conclusions or use your own discription.

I repeat again, nobody disputes Ryanairs financial sucess. The point I am making is she described them as 'cheap' (not referring to the price of tickets).

I don't see how I am off the mark in saying 'she slams Ryanair'

She was complimentary of their success but described them as cheap in their treatment of passengers, which was the only point I was making.
She was keen not to have Southwest associated with this type of treatment of passengers.

It was hardly a compliment.

Please, tell me where I am wrong.
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Old 9th Jun 2006, 14:22
  #163 (permalink)  
 
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Worldwide...read my post again....Im agreeing with you

The comments I have highlighted are from a previous poster who has taken umbrage to my "pikey" comment.

You are exactly on the money regarding Southwest's opinion of Ryanairs passenger handling.
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Old 9th Jun 2006, 14:39
  #164 (permalink)  
 
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www - do you have a link to the interview.all can watch and draw their own conclusions.
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Old 9th Jun 2006, 18:29
  #165 (permalink)  
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Originally Posted by worldwidewolly
I repeat again, nobody disputes Ryanairs financial sucess.

Firstly, define financial success. I watched a program last night about lending poverty-stricken people in Bangladesh a few pennies so that they could escape from the money lenders. A woman was trapped into a deal that kept her next to starvation. The money lender called the shots, and she was in effect a slave.

Would this money lender be considered to be a success? It is an extreme interpellation, but flight crew do not need to be burdened like this while in an intensive stage of the training. Which brings me to the next point.

Far more importantly, just what is the minimum experience of the crews? To find a very low hour pilot in the right hand seat is just a little better than single-crewing a jet transport aircraft when the going get rough. Sure, for years nothing will test this concept, but it will one day, and I wouldn't want my family on that aircraft when it does.

I have spent some years beside bright young people who never miss a beat. They are tomorrow's captains, but for now their professionalism is a facade. The odd times that something went really pear-shaped, the low hour folk were way, way back on the steep end of the learning curve. Of course, this is what one would expect, but in those days, there was a shot-gun experienced guy ready to lean over his shoulder, or even takes his seat....Oh, and let's face it, pull my convulsing body out of my seat should I have a physiological systems failure.
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Old 9th Jun 2006, 18:42
  #166 (permalink)  
 
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Epreye

I think that if atyourcervix73 had a superior education then he might have done a better job of the spelling..........i before e except after c
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Old 9th Jun 2006, 18:50
  #167 (permalink)  
 
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1st post edited for the I before E except after C Brigade (but there..or should I say their? are exceptions)
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Old 9th Jun 2006, 19:24
  #168 (permalink)  
 
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Post Popped Rivets.

Firstly, define financial success.
Ok. How's this to get you started.
It is an extreme interpellation
Nope, a ridiculous, highly offensive and invalid comparison.
Far more importantly, just what is the minimum experience of the crews?
Anyone, and I mean anyone, who makes it onto the Ryanair line and manages to stay there, is a highly capable airman, a determined individual, and demonstrably of above average ability. Character and maturity are the determinants in qualitative terms of any pilot in any airline, its just that in Ryanair, the quality of our people is far more important than in big, fur-lined, loss making legacy carriers who fly from 10000 feet long ILS to 10000 feet long ILS with 90 minute turn arounds in between, because our operation is more extreme. Shotguns and convulsing bodies nothwithstanding, of course.
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Old 9th Jun 2006, 20:14
  #169 (permalink)  
 
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Once again the thread slides to : Ryanair pilots are all crap : I too find this offensive. Come and give it a go if you think your hard enough.
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Old 9th Jun 2006, 20:39
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Shanwickman,

I am glad to see that his/her (?) particularly odious remarks in the first post have been edited and removed.

With bigoted remarks like that, it is very hard to take the poster seriously.

While I am not a proponent of Ryanair, I find it incredible to see every mention of their name arouse such open hostility.

There is no question that they are not highly regarded from an HR perspective, and offended staff members have a right to air their views.

But many of the posters seem to have no connection with the airline, just a strong will to knock it, every chance they get. What is their agenda ? If they have nothing to do with the airline, should they not leave fighting the HR war, to those that have ?

All of us in the aviation industry have an interest in T&C's, but I don't see Ryanair staff on this forum with open hostility towards other airlines.

Also, I find it amazing how two different people watching the same programme can come away with such different views.
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Old 9th Jun 2006, 21:05
  #171 (permalink)  
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It was a simple question. I don't know the minimum hours for a new F/Officer in Ryanair, but some of the text seemed to imply that it could be minimal. So, I asked.

There is no point in going into thread slippage if FL's requirements are greater than implied. But I feel that my argument is valid as a basic principal.

I gave my opinion about very low hour pilots, an opinion to which I'm entitled after some of the bewildering things that I have witnessed in the last 40 years.

I have, in my last years flying, jumped a jet transport flight in the UK which was crewed by a 60+ and a <300 hour pilot. The young man was technically a smooth operator until the height-lock was missed by the PF (the Capt) and also the F/Officer. I left it as long as I dared before prompting. My formal assessment of that incident, was that the Captain's distraction was valid in this case, but that more careful monitoring of the flight by the PNF should be ....'encouraged.'

All the bluster in the world won't alter the fact that new pilots of low hours do not, and can not be expected to, cope with the hopefully rare extreme situation. ..and yes, this includes the captain's incapacity.
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Old 9th Jun 2006, 21:57
  #172 (permalink)  
 
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I don't know why anyone is surprised by the depth of feeling expressed on here.
On the one hand we have our friend Mr Hairy Camel, spouting his usual propaganda based I guess in no small part to those rose coloured glasses, although should RYR management ever come to a sudden stop, they may have to consult a proctologist to remove the camel man
On the other hand it seems that several posters on here are living under the false impression that RYR constitute one part of the axis of evil.
I suspect the truth lies somewhere in between, interestingly I know a number of current & ex RYR flightcrew who have by their own admission made their bed, and now have to lie in it.
Ive traveled on RYR, positioning as crew for my employer and Ive found the service to be adequate, although to be fair I couldn't understand one word of the PA's, and one of the emergency exits was blocked by luggage that wasn't picked up on the last flight from DUB-LGW.
Ive also traveled extensively with Southwest, and again hand on heart there is no comparison. So it is clear that we are not comparing apples with apples, or more appropriately potatoes with apples
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Old 10th Jun 2006, 08:12
  #173 (permalink)  
 
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Loose Rivets
"I have, in my last years flying, jumped a jet transport flight in the UK which was crewed by a 60+ and a <300 hour pilot. The young man was technically a smooth operator until the height-lock was missed by the PF (the Capt) and also the F/Officer. I left it as long as I dared before prompting. My formal assessment of that incident, was that the Captain's distraction was valid in this case, but that more careful monitoring of the flight by the PNF should be ....'encouraged.' "

So nothing to do with hours and experience then. The old blokes in your company are just as incompetent as the young inexperienced ones.
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Old 10th Jun 2006, 15:51
  #174 (permalink)  
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No, the point I made was that the captain had a very valid reason to be distracted.

It was an aircraft type that I had thousands of hours on, and the height lock was usually very positive and reliable. Sod's law, the maker of many an accident, dictated that the distraction coincided with a failure of the system to lock the height. Ironically, it was the captain's very smooth reduction of vertical rate that made the detection of the fault (by sensing g forces ) give an added clue to the failure.

I would have hoped that by 1,000 hours, this young man would have had such an improved general awareness, that he would have picked up on the error. I have noticed that some pilots that seem to take a while to ‘settle in', turn out to be very good operators later on. It's one of my personal foibles, but I thought that the preposterous amount of paperwork the p2 was coping with was contributory in this case.

Really, this incident was very minor. I have experienced things over the years that would have to be seen to be believed. It was just that the crew fitted a profile that was germane.

Character and maturity are the determinants in qualitative terms of any pilot in any airline, its just that in Ryanair, the quality of our people is far more important than in big, fur-lined, loss making legacy carriers who fly from 10000 feet long ILS to 10000 feet long ILS with 90 minute turn arounds in between, because our operation is more extreme. Shotguns and convulsing bodies nothwithstanding, of course.

I see that Leo Hairy-Camel is again chanting his mantra on a different thread. I didn't need the year's financial reports in detail, the bottom line had already been spelled out. It is the means of getting this bottom line that is in question.

Anyone, and I mean anyone, who makes it onto the Ryanair line and manages to stay there, is a highly capable airman, a determined individual, and demonstrably of above average ability.
Well, given that you have cornered the market on young chaps with ‘above average ability' then you won't mind answering the question. I hear rather frightening figures bandied about, so just what are the lowest hours for a fully operational F/Officer?

My ‘offensive' comparison was more to do with the young chaps that are having to cope with such financial burdens, while trying to achieve skilled professional standards for the first time. Their costs are likely to have been more than they had ever planned on, then this nonsense bearing down on them while £ billions lie in the bank. They probably can't ‘escape' without financial ruin, and that is the comparison. If young pilots really are in the situation described earlier, then not only are they inexperienced, but also burdened with other issues that are counter to safety.

Heaven knows, as a young man I would have loved to work for a company that kept me airborne to the max on short haul; it is what I loved to do back then. However, to carry on for years, while raising a family, looking after old folk...in other words, living a life, under this kind of pressure, is IMO not acceptable. More of this amazing ‘success' should be invested into a more structured career for the young pilot.
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Old 11th Jun 2006, 10:08
  #175 (permalink)  
 
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MOL mistake, our loss!

The Sunday Times - Business



The Sunday Times June 11, 2006


And finally . . . Oil spike teaches O'Leary a hard lesson in hedging


IT wasn’t supposed to be like this. When Michael O’Leary, the Ryanair boss, decided a few years ago to expand the fleet with hundreds of new Boeings, the assumption was the airline could grow profits in line with passenger numbers. But it hasn’t turned out that way. Though Ryanair carried 26% more people in the year to March 2006, profits advanced by only 12%.
The soaring cost of jet fuel is mostly to blame. If the price had remained static last year, Ryanair’s profits would have come in at about €400m instead of the €306m it posted. Ryanair’s fuel charge rose 76% year-on-year as O’Leary and shareholders paid the price for not hedging.



For many years, Ryanair’s bottom line had benefited from insuring against oil price increases. But in November 2003, when the oil price took off, Ryanair stopped its forward hedging policy. In June 2004, when it looked like the problems in the Middle East were abating, O’Leary was confident oil prices would return to 2003 levels. “It would be unwise to lock in at the current high forward rates,” he said. “Our view is prices will fall this winter or next year and only then will we hedge, in order to benefit from such reductions.”

By June 2005, the grim reality of rising oil prices had softened his cough and he locked in at $49 a barrel, though only from October 2005 to March 2006. Once again, he was hoping against hope that the price momentum would swing his way. Last Easter Ryanair was again unhedged and the price of a barrel of oil was more than $60 and rising. So O’Leary took the plunge again, hedging at $70 a barrel, but only until October.

O’Leary told shareholders last week: “We will continue to look for opportunities to hedge again, but only if suitable pricing opportunities present themselves.”

Someone should buy O’Leary a copy of Peak Oil so he will be fully apprised of what the world looks like without cheap fuel.
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Old 12th Jun 2006, 21:48
  #176 (permalink)  
 
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Ryan Air talks about leaving Sweden...

There was an article in today's papers all over Sweden about Ryan Air and several other companies planing on leaving Sweden due to a new flight tax which the Swedish government will introduce next year.

When asked when they are planing on starting the cut backs off traffic to Sweden, the answer was: in october this year.

When asked why Ryan Air are making these threats:
Ryan Air spokesman said, it's not a threat its a promise...

FlyMe and FlyNordic are planing on halting all expansion in Sweden and concentrating on Norway and Denmark who has just removed their flight taxes.

The tax in Sweden will be 180 SKR (20€) for international flights and 100 SKR (12€) for domestic flights.
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Old 12th Jun 2006, 23:44
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For once, good on Ryanair.

There are far too many unfairly disriminating taxes on aviation that only serve to (perversely) increase emissions. This may be due to tankering fuel from regions of lower fuel price (in the case of a fuel tax) increasing total fuel burn, or simply people being priced onto more polluting methods of transport such as cars or trains; (Yes trains - Think of the level of noise of a train times the number of people exposed to this noise at close quarters).
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Old 13th Jun 2006, 00:00
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Ah,

you see as a first hand witness of RYANOLOGY, its evident that this tax would not encourage a pull out, but it would be an ideal EXCUSE for them to escape for some other reason. It will not hit the Ryan coffers, because as usual thy would just pass iton to the pax anyway.

Perhaps the real reason for a pull out, and broken promises, would be the proximity of other baltic states, ripe for plundering.

The FR Vikings are coming!

RYAN SPIN
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Old 13th Jun 2006, 13:27
  #179 (permalink)  

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Folks - this is the latest from the London Stock Exchange.

Ryanair Responds to Latest Abusive Attempt by Air France to Block

Competition in France

Ryanair, Europe's largest low fares airline, today (Tuesday, 13th June 2006)
announced that it has filed a further complaint to the European Commission on
Air France's latest attempt to block competition from low fares airlines in
France. Last month, Ryanair announced that it would base 2 new aircraft at
Marseille Airport, which will serve 13 routes and deliver almost 1 million
additional passengers annually to the airport, which equates to a e100 million
in savings to French consumers and visitors to France off the high fares of Air
France. However, Air France announced today that it had filed an action in the
French Conseille d'Etat against Marseille Airport in an attempt to block
Ryanair's use of this new low cost terminal - despite the fact that the tariff
for using this facility is published and has been agreed by the French Civil
Aviation Authority.

Commenting today on this latest abuse by Air France, Ryanair's Head of
Regulatory Affairs, Jim Callaghan, said:

"This is the latest in a long line of abuses by Air France to protect
their strangle-hold on the French market:

1. Air France succeeded in blocking competition from Ryanair on the London to
Strasbourg route. The result has been predictable, Air France is again
ripping off consumers with e800 return fares and passenger numbers have
plummeted from 20,000 per month to just over 2,000.

2. Air France also blocked competition from easyJet in Bale-Mulhouse by again
resorting to the local courts.

3. Now Air France is trying to prevent Ryanair from using lower cost facilities
in Marseille Provence Airport, which were offered to Air France but were
rejected.

"Ryanair has therefore today submitted a further complaint to the
European Commission against Air France on the basis of an abuse of
dominance under the European competition rules. In no other European
member state does the national airline hold such a dominant position and
engage in such abusive practices in order to block competition.

"Last month, Ryanair filed a complaint to the European Commission
regarding approximately e1 billion worth of state aid that Air France
has received from the French Government in the form of subsidised
domestic landing and passenger fees. This illegal state aid has enabled
Air France to dominate the French market and force smaller competitors
off the market.

"If Jean-Cyrille Spinetta is truly concerned about "equality", then he
should:

1. have accepted Marseille Airport's offer of lower cost, efficient facilities
instead of abusing the French Court system to prevent competition.

2. stop ripping off French consumers and start charging the same fares as
Ryanair.

3. start paying the same landing fees on domestic traffic as Ryanair has to pay
on international flights instead of receiving illegal subsidies from the
French Government.

"We are calling on the European Commission to put an end to Air France's
abusive practices in the French market and to promote competition from
low fares airlines, which have been successful in bringing low fares,
competition and choice to every other European Member State, except
France!"

Ends. Tuesday, 13th June 2006

For reference:
Peter Sherrard - Ryanair Pauline McAlester - Murray Consultants

Tel: +353-1-8121228 Tel: +353-4980300

Editor's Note:

Ryanair has announced 13 routes to commence from Marseille Airport in
November 2006 - Brussels Charleroi; Eindhoven; Karlsruhe Baden;
Frankfurt Hahn; London Stansted; Rome Ciampino; Dublin; Glasgow
Prestwick; Porto; Fez (Morocco); Marracech (Morocco); Oujda (Morocco);
and Oslo Torp.
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Old 13th Jun 2006, 19:12
  #180 (permalink)  
 
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I was sitting in an English pub last night about a mile from a Ryanair base and heard one of their pilots telling his companion that he was very satisfied with his lot. Decent rosters, 4 sector days, 5 on-5 off, home every night, no night flying, new aircraft, local base, etc. He said he didn't care 'what colour the aircraft is painted', just wanted a decent job on reasonable terms, which he had.

I was pleased to hear a senior, experienced employee being positive. After all, as we know there are plenty of people prepared to 'Knock' Ryanair.
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