Ryanair - 6
spotthedog not defending the airlines handling of this as it is a woeful customer experience however do you know the exact reason for the delay? Could it have been slot delays at dublin or LGW? You say yourself there was snow at the time. I can tell you from personal experience that the smallest amount of snow has in the past month sent airports at both end unserviceable. I myself was stuck on a flight the other day at STN due to 1cm... reason being that the runway was closed, then when it did open we had a slot and were number 7 for departure. Moved up several spaces but then RWY was shut again and remained so till the flight was cancelled.
Now I ask you what would you have done? You as the captain have sent a ready message to control saying that you are ready an immediate departure. You now have to keep the pax seated as the tower may be saying you should push in the next ten mins. Many of the times we as crew know a little more than the pax but not much in regards to when the airport will open. If you let pax deplane then you have to do a security search, then reload the aircraft. You let pax move around and it takes an age to get them seated again so you can push. By the time that is done you have missed your slot. Your now stuck at the gate waiting for a new slot to be issued. Its a bit of a juggling act trying to keep all the balls in the air at the same time.
Its up to the captain to release the cabin crew and if he thought it best to keep them seated surely he thought there was a chance of movement soon? But I wasnt there so cant tell you. You should send a complaint letter to RYR and see if you get a response.
The problem with telling pax the whole truth is that in many cases its the worst thing you could do. Pax get upset and it takes only one to start a scene. Yes a simple statement of we are delayed due RWY closing but again I cant say what was going on. I can tell you what I would have done and hindsight is a great thing. Yes you should be apologized to so I urge you to complain.
RYR is good at what it does. Transporting a hell of a lot of people and generating profits. However being good at generating profits doesn't always mean treating the customer as they should be treated, BA terminal 5 lost baggage ring a bell?
Now I ask you what would you have done? You as the captain have sent a ready message to control saying that you are ready an immediate departure. You now have to keep the pax seated as the tower may be saying you should push in the next ten mins. Many of the times we as crew know a little more than the pax but not much in regards to when the airport will open. If you let pax deplane then you have to do a security search, then reload the aircraft. You let pax move around and it takes an age to get them seated again so you can push. By the time that is done you have missed your slot. Your now stuck at the gate waiting for a new slot to be issued. Its a bit of a juggling act trying to keep all the balls in the air at the same time.
Its up to the captain to release the cabin crew and if he thought it best to keep them seated surely he thought there was a chance of movement soon? But I wasnt there so cant tell you. You should send a complaint letter to RYR and see if you get a response.
The problem with telling pax the whole truth is that in many cases its the worst thing you could do. Pax get upset and it takes only one to start a scene. Yes a simple statement of we are delayed due RWY closing but again I cant say what was going on. I can tell you what I would have done and hindsight is a great thing. Yes you should be apologized to so I urge you to complain.
RYR is good at what it does. Transporting a hell of a lot of people and generating profits. However being good at generating profits doesn't always mean treating the customer as they should be treated, BA terminal 5 lost baggage ring a bell?
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All that is required is a truthful PA with what is happening to the passengers. The truth is the best policy. Most passengers are adults and respond well to being kept informed.
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Well here I go !
1. Ryanair and many other Airlines CANX flights during the snow
so lucky they departed at all.
2. Ryanair CC are not INVISIBLE, its hard to hide CC on FR's 738's.
3. Ryanair are a point to point Airline which means they have to get you from A-to-B and thats it.
4. Forget about stranded at your destination, that is nothing to do with FR what so ever [see point 3].
5. If you really think people on here [even the FR bashers] think that
the CC or Flightdeck didnt offer a reason or apologies even once then
you as mad as your post.
1. Ryanair and many other Airlines CANX flights during the snow
so lucky they departed at all.
2. Ryanair CC are not INVISIBLE, its hard to hide CC on FR's 738's.
3. Ryanair are a point to point Airline which means they have to get you from A-to-B and thats it.
4. Forget about stranded at your destination, that is nothing to do with FR what so ever [see point 3].
5. If you really think people on here [even the FR bashers] think that
the CC or Flightdeck didnt offer a reason or apologies even once then
you as mad as your post.
You'd think they would but unfortunately we had a pax that starting screaming blue murder and carrying on like a child the other day when told the RWY was closed due to snow.
Started swearing and carrying on as though she was the only one on the aircraft that was missing appointments. Caused a lot of distress to those around her. This is the unfortunate reason we can't always give you the whole truth
She started screaming about aircraft in siberia able to take in snow so why cant we and was eventually off loaded.
Its the likes of her that spoil it for the rest much like the baggage. You think the gate staff like saying to pax sorry no to big and then enduring the abuse that follows? You tell people that whole truth and you get some idiot demanding all sorts of things that we can do.
Whenever the normal lay person goes near an airport all sense of decency and proper behaviour is lost. The traffic to the carpark is the first sign
Started swearing and carrying on as though she was the only one on the aircraft that was missing appointments. Caused a lot of distress to those around her. This is the unfortunate reason we can't always give you the whole truth
She started screaming about aircraft in siberia able to take in snow so why cant we and was eventually off loaded.
Its the likes of her that spoil it for the rest much like the baggage. You think the gate staff like saying to pax sorry no to big and then enduring the abuse that follows? You tell people that whole truth and you get some idiot demanding all sorts of things that we can do.
Whenever the normal lay person goes near an airport all sense of decency and proper behaviour is lost. The traffic to the carpark is the first sign
Last edited by Rhodes13; 19th Feb 2009 at 19:14.
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5. If you really think people on here [even the FR bashers] think that
the CC or Flightdeck didnt offer a reason or apologies even once then
you as mad as your post.
the CC or Flightdeck didnt offer a reason or apologies even once then
you as mad as your post.
Are you the new racedo?
Do you have MOL's photo on your wall?
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I'm not saying security checks are of any benefit, what I am saying is that becuase they are the rules everybody else follows them, and as a result their turnarounds take longer, same at the gate, every other airline checks the pax as they pass through the gate, and Rhodes not everybody on here are SLF. I never stated that FR were unsafe, I admire FRs attitude to engineering and Flightops, but the cabin in my view is different. What I saw was last pax off, first pax on 10 seconds in between. Try going through the cabin some day and checking under each seat, and the overheads, and that nobody has nicked a seatbelt. See how long it takes!
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3 crew check 11 rows each, no seat backs, no cleaning. Fr policy puts first pax out on a/c steps while the crew finish security checks. Maximum time two mins. Tried and tested, audited regularly and works. Fr do it better than anyone because everyone is under pressure from the top. Remember, when the crew r on the ground they r not getting paid.
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Thanks for all your thoughts on this one guys.
Re Rhodes13 question about what would i have done if I had been captain facing the situation outlined - well I think I really would have to agree with A319-100 and tell the truth. Now, that might be tricky because it probably would be hard to explain the complex range of factors in a suitable way. But I would certainly have tried to explain why it was best to keep everyone on the aircraft (after an hour say). I'd have pre-empted the possibility of delay due snow and made sure at least some refreshments were ready to calm any hint of passenger rebellion (Is that provision outside the power of the cpatain on Ryanair?)
But what happened was that the flight deck crew made 'promises' (viz. that "we would be underway in 15 mins") which were repeatedly 'broken' for 5 hours! So all crew credibility appears to have been lost in the eyes of the passengers - I guess any reason or casual apologies that may have been offered would justly sound very hollow after that.
Now I can see that a small number of passengers would lose it and scream with a delay regardless of anything you say to them - maybe alcohol induced, maybe a difficult ride to the airport or an unfortunate check-in or security experience contributed - whatever. On this flight no one had to be carted off. Don't most people simply mutter and seethe in a restrained sort of way when faced with this kind of adversity? Surely, not being honest is far more likely to turn the majority of reasonable people against you bigtime and increase the chance that some of them will lash out or that they will organise as a group - as started to happen on this flight?
I shall relay to my friend daz211's view that "he was lucky to have departed at all"! Love it! I suspect though he feels he would have been luckier not to have travelled that day at all.
Thanks also for your clarification that "Ryanair is a point to point airline which means they have to get you from A to B and that's it!" That's not entirely true is it as particularly 'lucky' passengers have been known to fly via point C, an airport near to B with a deceptively similar runway configuration!
But more importantly where does that equation leave safety and duty of care - both of which are presumably compromised to a degree if passengers are stretched to fluid-deprived emotional breaking point?
Re Rhodes13 question about what would i have done if I had been captain facing the situation outlined - well I think I really would have to agree with A319-100 and tell the truth. Now, that might be tricky because it probably would be hard to explain the complex range of factors in a suitable way. But I would certainly have tried to explain why it was best to keep everyone on the aircraft (after an hour say). I'd have pre-empted the possibility of delay due snow and made sure at least some refreshments were ready to calm any hint of passenger rebellion (Is that provision outside the power of the cpatain on Ryanair?)
But what happened was that the flight deck crew made 'promises' (viz. that "we would be underway in 15 mins") which were repeatedly 'broken' for 5 hours! So all crew credibility appears to have been lost in the eyes of the passengers - I guess any reason or casual apologies that may have been offered would justly sound very hollow after that.
Now I can see that a small number of passengers would lose it and scream with a delay regardless of anything you say to them - maybe alcohol induced, maybe a difficult ride to the airport or an unfortunate check-in or security experience contributed - whatever. On this flight no one had to be carted off. Don't most people simply mutter and seethe in a restrained sort of way when faced with this kind of adversity? Surely, not being honest is far more likely to turn the majority of reasonable people against you bigtime and increase the chance that some of them will lash out or that they will organise as a group - as started to happen on this flight?
I shall relay to my friend daz211's view that "he was lucky to have departed at all"! Love it! I suspect though he feels he would have been luckier not to have travelled that day at all.
Thanks also for your clarification that "Ryanair is a point to point airline which means they have to get you from A to B and that's it!" That's not entirely true is it as particularly 'lucky' passengers have been known to fly via point C, an airport near to B with a deceptively similar runway configuration!
But more importantly where does that equation leave safety and duty of care - both of which are presumably compromised to a degree if passengers are stretched to fluid-deprived emotional breaking point?
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I flew with Ryanair for the first time this week; firstly MAN-DUB then DUB-LPL. I must say, the flights were spot on time and I had no complaints at all.
Bit nonsensical really the amount of hand luggage people take onboard though. I myself checked mine into the hold but on the flight from MAN-DUB the overhead lockers were completely full; people cramming&pushing to their heart's content to get their larger than life suitcase above them.
Ryanair does what it says on the tin: cheap flights to popular places, no-frills service. Why people would complain about it when the prices are so low is beyond me.
Bit nonsensical really the amount of hand luggage people take onboard though. I myself checked mine into the hold but on the flight from MAN-DUB the overhead lockers were completely full; people cramming&pushing to their heart's content to get their larger than life suitcase above them.
Ryanair does what it says on the tin: cheap flights to popular places, no-frills service. Why people would complain about it when the prices are so low is beyond me.
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FR9849 dub to ork 17 Feb
@spotthedog
My experience last night was totally different! STD of 2050. Fully loaded at 2040. Door closed at approx 2052. Delay appeared to be caused by pax who had her online boarding card but no photo id and was stuck at gate trying to sort it out. Problem was solved and ready for push @2054.
No push and after about 10 mins Captain advised that a landing aircraft had just suffered a minor incident(spilled some fluid which needed to be cleaned up) on landing on rw 28 (the active runway). Main runway was closed and we joined the queue for start up for the changed runway. We taxied at 2115, airborne approx 2120 and arrived ORK @2152 only 12 minutes behind schedule. Crew again apologised for the delay.
Anytime Ryanair have had a delay they have never been slow to apologise. On one occasion last year I had a 3 hour delay after boarding because of slots implemented at Dub due to weather conditions. I decided not to travel and crew quickly arranged for a handling agent to get me back in the Terminal.
My experience last night was totally different! STD of 2050. Fully loaded at 2040. Door closed at approx 2052. Delay appeared to be caused by pax who had her online boarding card but no photo id and was stuck at gate trying to sort it out. Problem was solved and ready for push @2054.
No push and after about 10 mins Captain advised that a landing aircraft had just suffered a minor incident(spilled some fluid which needed to be cleaned up) on landing on rw 28 (the active runway). Main runway was closed and we joined the queue for start up for the changed runway. We taxied at 2115, airborne approx 2120 and arrived ORK @2152 only 12 minutes behind schedule. Crew again apologised for the delay.
Anytime Ryanair have had a delay they have never been slow to apologise. On one occasion last year I had a 3 hour delay after boarding because of slots implemented at Dub due to weather conditions. I decided not to travel and crew quickly arranged for a handling agent to get me back in the Terminal.
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Its great telling the pax the truth but then again alot do not understand the intricasies of operating aircraft in low vis procedures etc and just EXPECT the planes to operate.
Then they complain blaming Ryanair when just as much everyone else is in the same boat.......
Regards
Then they complain blaming Ryanair when just as much everyone else is in the same boat.......
Regards
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Ryanair now allow mobiles to be used in flight!
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Ryanair now allow mobiles to be used in flight!
Deep joy.
"I'm on a plane innit. Yeah, a plane. Is it that I am on a plane..."
Must make sure my iPod is charged and ready to blot them out...
"I'm on a plane innit. Yeah, a plane. Is it that I am on a plane..."
Must make sure my iPod is charged and ready to blot them out...
Last edited by Steviec9; 20th Feb 2009 at 09:43. Reason: typo
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Anyone know anything about this 37 hour delay in Malta?
timesofmalta.com - Ryanair flight delayed for more than 37 hours
timesofmalta.com - Ryanair flight delayed for more than 37 hours
Then, stranded due late arrival in LGW with no trains etc.
Ryanair now allow mobiles to be used in flight!
I suspect that network airlines may want to provide a picocell as part of the general service offering - particularly to those sitting in the pointy bit of the airframes, but that the likes of Ryanair will do so only if it's a directly profitable ancillary. I'd be interested to know how much people would need to spend on an average 2 hour flight for this kind of thing to be profitable to Ryanair