Ryanair - 6
I believe Southwest don't operate any international routes at all - they are at the moment setting up codesharing with WestJet for US-Canada flights. I believe they are also looking at flights to/from Hawaii as well, although ETOPS might be an issue here
Then again, when you have the whole of the lower-48 states in the USA in which to fly, international flying which adds complexity to the operation is not really necessary to grow one's business
As an example of scale comparison, Wikipedia shows Southwest to have 539 737s, compared to Ryanair's 181. Sure, the 737s Southwest fly are smaller than Ryanair's 737s in terms of passenger capacity..... but that's still a lot more metal in the air
Then again, when you have the whole of the lower-48 states in the USA in which to fly, international flying which adds complexity to the operation is not really necessary to grow one's business
As an example of scale comparison, Wikipedia shows Southwest to have 539 737s, compared to Ryanair's 181. Sure, the 737s Southwest fly are smaller than Ryanair's 737s in terms of passenger capacity..... but that's still a lot more metal in the air
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Ryanairs core focus is within Europe which is pretty much a single market these days. I know there are exceptions but that's why the business model was chosen.
The distinguishing factor is that Southwest values it's employees highly and treats them well. There was a good interview with Herb in both Airliner World and Aircraft Illustrated recently. He is a little reluctant to take credit for Ryanair though, worth reading if you can get a copy.
The distinguishing factor is that Southwest values it's employees highly and treats them well. There was a good interview with Herb in both Airliner World and Aircraft Illustrated recently. He is a little reluctant to take credit for Ryanair though, worth reading if you can get a copy.
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Can you give some comparisons - pay rate wise
between Southwest and Ryanair and their 'full service'
rival carriers from Captain to CC if possible..........I'm
just curious.
MM
between Southwest and Ryanair and their 'full service'
rival carriers from Captain to CC if possible..........I'm
just curious.
MM
For those with a passport from the EU / North America, this is not a problem. Further, those working for an airport will not want to get involved in any kind of visa policing. In addition, Govt immigration officials care only about who is entering or leaving their own country - not whether they have the right to enter the country to which they are going.
Quite a few of the service providers at Airports incentivise the staff to hold back people with incorrect Visa's. As is pretty likely the airlines will force people like Servisair etc to pay the fine as they checked someone through then getting people like this held way before boarding is worth the £25 bonus to the checking staff.
I can only guess that using the checkin kiosks will flag whether someone has correct VISA or not as believe they are regesitered.
Maybe I'm worng, but it was my understanding that passengers with children under 2 were unable to check in on line. Is this restriction lifted?
There will be some way around this.
1) All checkin desks really will be closed across the whole network ?
Probably not
2) Those without EU / North American passports will not be permitted to fly with Ryanair to/from the UK and Ireland ?
unlikely
3) Some checkin desks will actually be retained at airports, but they will just have a very expensive fee to use them - paid only by non-EU citizens ?
Probably free to Non EU - a charge for EU
4) Ryanair doesn't care about the potential immigration fines ?
They do big time - reckon their online checkin has a backdoor into false passports so Police / immigration see who is using them
5) Checking of visas will be done at the gate with little or no time for sorting out any queries ?
In most countries flying from Schenegn to UK / Ireland there are security/ immigration checks anyway.......issue not relevant across most of EU as if there automatically assummed you have Schengen Visa........damm never though about that which is why it will be a winner as no need to check anyway across most routes.
Probably not
2) Those without EU / North American passports will not be permitted to fly with Ryanair to/from the UK and Ireland ?
unlikely
3) Some checkin desks will actually be retained at airports, but they will just have a very expensive fee to use them - paid only by non-EU citizens ?
Probably free to Non EU - a charge for EU
4) Ryanair doesn't care about the potential immigration fines ?
They do big time - reckon their online checkin has a backdoor into false passports so Police / immigration see who is using them
5) Checking of visas will be done at the gate with little or no time for sorting out any queries ?
In most countries flying from Schenegn to UK / Ireland there are security/ immigration checks anyway.......issue not relevant across most of EU as if there automatically assummed you have Schengen Visa........damm never though about that which is why it will be a winner as no need to check anyway across most routes.
Ryanairs core focus is within Europe which is pretty much a single market these days. I know there are exceptions but that's why the business model was chosen.
The distinguishing factor is that Southwest values it's employees highly and treats them well. There was a good interview with Herb in both Airliner World and Aircraft Illustrated recently. He is a little reluctant to take credit for Ryanair though, worth reading if you can get a copy.
The distinguishing factor is that Southwest values it's employees highly and treats them well. There was a good interview with Herb in both Airliner World and Aircraft Illustrated recently. He is a little reluctant to take credit for Ryanair though, worth reading if you can get a copy.
Comparing Southwest and FR is both easy and hard, easy as their business model is similar harder because method of operation are different.
Southwest had 1 single US market with lots of poorly served routes that it could start with where restrictions limited. Given the US Airlines were served with poor management and agressive Unions he felt better to have a Union working within the company at the start and make them part of the plan. This he did.......this was contrary to what rest of airlines were doing but Herb was noted as a smoker, drinker who did things differently.
Southwest are fun to fly with but will enter and exit a route just as quickly but they are also mindful with 1 million plus lawyers in the US they are always getting sued by whomever for whatever. Similarly they don't get US Federal Govt coming up with passengers charters etc with fines for airlines as a PR stunt like EU.
FR will evolve its customer service over time but as an aggressive growing company it has to reach a point before it feels it can do that and given how it sees Unions have worked so well with other airlines in Europe it stays away from them big time.
Met a guy who works with lots of European airports in the last week and he made the point that many of the big airports who had a distaste for FR were now making discreet inquiries as ultimately bosses gets measured on PAX numbers. He viewed that next stage of expansion would be at more central airports where they would get lots of opportunities as its a recession BUT his key point was come the end of a recession they would be holding quite a lot of slots in key markets.
Last edited by racedo; 22nd Feb 2009 at 17:23.
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I have no brief for Ryanair and can fully understand the frustrations with them.....however......sometimes you get a new perspective on things. Visiting friends in ontario in june and thought it would be a jolly idea to pop over the border and link up with friends in pittsburgh so I idly looked at the possiblities and found only Air Canada do the route through their joke lo cost operator JAZZ and was quoted £220 return for a mid week there and back return from Toronto Pearson to Pittsburgh. That's £220 for a one hour flight on an enquiry 4 months before the planned trip.
I know we're spoilt in the UK with Ryanair, Easyjet, Wizz etc but sometimes you're brought up short by the sheer nonsense in the aviation sector as listed in the above para. I sent an e mail to Air Canada slating them and warning them that their lazy arses will hit the floor when the loco revolution hits North America.....so it's a not altogether unwelcome car hire for one week for me which I can get for about £160-170.
I know we're spoilt in the UK with Ryanair, Easyjet, Wizz etc but sometimes you're brought up short by the sheer nonsense in the aviation sector as listed in the above para. I sent an e mail to Air Canada slating them and warning them that their lazy arses will hit the floor when the loco revolution hits North America.....so it's a not altogether unwelcome car hire for one week for me which I can get for about £160-170.
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Ryanair To Close Marseille Base
Hi, Just heard in the Grapevine that Ryanair are to close the Base in Marseille from Mid March, and will base there aircraft else where, which causes problems to people like myself for traveling to the south of france,Any updates please keep me posted..Regards Dumb737Girl
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undw - minor point, AC Jazz is not a lo-co, it's a wholly owned regional operator; uses a variety of Embraers and 'props. AC did have a lo-co called Tango that tried to respond to WestJet in the earlier nought-ies, but which was eventually rolled back into mainline. The name lived on as the cheapest/least flexible ticket designation on AC.
North America will, for a variety of reasons, never see a lo-co market like the one we have in Europe. There have been various attempts, and apart from Southwest (which has too many frills and too high a commitment to customer service to count as a lo-co in my eyes) none of them has worked. Google passenger feedback on other forums about the short lived Skybus from a year or two ago. American SLF, it seems, do not take kindly to the lo-co equation. I can't speak on their behalf, but I also suspect that North American employees in the airline industry take kindly to, for example, a FR model of business management.
North America will, for a variety of reasons, never see a lo-co market like the one we have in Europe. There have been various attempts, and apart from Southwest (which has too many frills and too high a commitment to customer service to count as a lo-co in my eyes) none of them has worked. Google passenger feedback on other forums about the short lived Skybus from a year or two ago. American SLF, it seems, do not take kindly to the lo-co equation. I can't speak on their behalf, but I also suspect that North American employees in the airline industry take kindly to, for example, a FR model of business management.
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A fresh news as an addition to the subject: trans-border airports. Tomorrow FR will announce a new destination in its network: it's Osijek on the outskirts of Croatia. Not much the centre of interest itself, a smallish town with only 100.000 inhabitants. The airport's location is interesting, however, at least from "my" point of view. Situated approx. 160 kilometers from the Serbian capital, Belgrade, not far from Bosnia and just 55 km from the Southern border of Hungary. Especially the amount of Serbian pax flying to (Germany?) could be significant there.
While Croatia is closer to EU membership than Serbia, my understanding is that formal accession to the EU is unlikely before 2011. Further, Croatia is not about to join the Schengen area imminently. My understanding also is that Sarmellek / Balaton airport in southern Hungary was not a great performer for Ryanair.
eu01 - I hope you'll forgive my ignorance, but what is the benefit for Ryanair of flying from Osijek instead of somewhere close to Belgrade or Sarajevo ? Are Osijek airport simply paying a large amount of 'marketing support' ?
eu01 - I hope you'll forgive my ignorance, but what is the benefit for Ryanair of flying from Osijek instead of somewhere close to Belgrade or Sarajevo ? Are Osijek airport simply paying a large amount of 'marketing support' ?
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@davidjohnson6
Well, Serbia has not implemented the Open Skies Agreement as yet. Osijek is the nearest possible apt in that regard. What Osijek or Slavonia region are paying for this? I have no idea, but knowing Ryanair...
Concerning Saramellek/ Balaton. It's not a viable destination outside of the Summer season (not enough population around).
Well, Serbia has not implemented the Open Skies Agreement as yet. Osijek is the nearest possible apt in that regard. What Osijek or Slavonia region are paying for this? I have no idea, but knowing Ryanair...
Concerning Saramellek/ Balaton. It's not a viable destination outside of the Summer season (not enough population around).
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Hi, Just heard in the Grapevine that Ryanair are to close the Base in Marseille from Mid March, and will base there aircraft else where, which causes problems to people like myself for traveling to the south of france,Any updates please keep me posted..Regards Dumb737Girl
I bought a Lille-Marseille last week for this summer
