Ryanair = Standby ?

[TwoDots]

Fell I need to recount this story ...

(I'm flight deck with a BHX carrier)

My folks came to visit me last weekend. On Sunday afternoon at 1700 they departed my house for BHX to catch a flight to DUB with Ryanair (approx 1900).

Said goodbye, nice to see you ..etc..

Next morning at 0430 (while driving in to BHX to do an early XYZ), I received a text message ... we are still at BHX !!

Turns out the Ryanair went tech, crew ran out of duty time .. etc..

Had coffee with them at 0600 ... said cheerio, and went off to do my 2 sectors. Arrived back in BHX at approx 1300. They were STILL in the lounge at BHX !!

They finally departed 22 HOURS after checking in for the SCHEDULED Ryanair service.
Needless to say, not even a voucher for a cup of tea was offered.

I understand that tech problems happen, but Ryanair made no attempt to reroute them, feed them, shelter them or send another aircraft until 9 hours into the next operating day.

I this really the face of modern aviation ?
Ryanair should be shamed of this one (or are they just getting used to it ?)

[achtung]

I experienced the same thing myself... though mine only lasted 7 hours or so...MOL doesn't give a toss about the customers provided they turn up and go (eventually...) sad but true... and what's this about changing the chairs to fixed seating etc??.... he's losing it!!:}

[FLEXJET]

You get what you pay for.

Flying Ryanair is like a lottery. You can't win each time !

I think that when you purchase your "ticket", you accept the terms and conditions.

Ryanair is not responsible if you click without reading first !

[LanFranc]

Have to agree with Flex. There are airlines where such things happen a LOT less frequently, if at all. And the customer service much, much better. BUT, the ticket prices are higher. I have to think that eventually the traveling public will realise its worth the extra fare for the extra service and reliability. On the other hand maybe they will put up with MOL's kind of service if the fare is low enough. Time and the market will tell....

[Crepello]

Yup, maybe MOL's conducting a Great Retailing Experiment, to see how poorly he can treat his customers yet still get repeat business. I suspect even he is surprised.

[Runway 31]

While I do not know the facts of the case detailed and do not wish to answer Ryanairs critics for them, Ryanair are not the only airline that for some reason cancel flights.

See below the CAA stats for February taken from the Ryanair website. Taking the figures below into account there must be a lot of cancelled flights on a daily basis so how do other airlines deal with their passengers when flights are cancelled ?


Major airline for fewest cancellations*
Airline Ranking % flights completed
Ryanair 1 98.4
Iberia 2 98.1
Alitalia 3 97.6
SAS 4 97.5
Lufthansa 5 97.3
BA 6 96.8
Austrian 7 94.7
Air France Refuse to Publish
easyJet

[Globaliser]

TwoDots: I understand that tech problems happen, but Ryanair made no attempt to reroute them, feed them, shelter them or send another aircraft until 9 hours into the next operating day.

I this really the face of modern aviation ?
Ryanair should be shamed of this one (or are they just getting used to it ?)The real question is why should any of this come as any surprise to anyone buying an FR ticket? When it works, it's great. But if you buy the FR ticket you are also knowingly buying the small chance of things going horrendously wrong.

I've only tried to fly FR once. The big surprise for me, when the delay to my outbound flight had reached 5 hours and I was therefore going to miss my return flight which was still on time, was that FR was prepared to give me my money back if I canx. I nearly fell over - wasn't expecting that.Runway 31: Taking the figures below into account there must be a lot of cancelled flights on a daily basis so how do other airlines deal with their passengers when flights are cancelled ? I don't have much short haul experience, but from personal experience on long haul "high fare" airlines (but still rock bottom discount economy), they call in advance if they know something's going to happen and sort out alternatives on the phone. I've had any combination of alternative flights on the same route, rerouting, being put on different airlines, and even being booked into business class on another airline (SJO-ATL-LGW on one occasion).

[matthewuk]

Runway 31 hits the nail on the head......

Ryanair won't cancel flights as it would make their stats look bad and they'd have to give pax their money back . Instead they would rather delay for 20 hours.......

[A4]

Two Dots,

As RYR are reducing their presence at BHX, why not get your folks to try MyTravel Lite who operate three times daily BHX-DUB-BHX.

22 hours is completely unacceptable - they don't deserve the business if they treat **customers** with such contempt!

A4

[unablereqnavperf]

Guys I think your loosing the plot here,when you buy a ticket for a flight your buying just that, A flight from Ato B. Your not buying the right of to being feed watered and Hotac. Its high time the traveling public get used to this, no other commercial transport industry will provide you these services if they have to cancel so why should the airline industry! True some of the major high cost airlines have in the past been able to look after there customers but with customers wanting to pay less and less for their travel it about time they get what they pay for and not a whole heap of extra's thrown in! After all isn't that what travel insurance is there for! And no I am not a Ryanair pilot but i do know quite a few and they're a fine bunch of lads!!!

[TwoDots]

unablereqnavperf,

I'm not having a go at the pilots - I know a few Ryanair guys myself ....

I'm questioning whether or not airlines should be doing this kind of thing to their "customers".

If British Rail or National Express caused a 22 hour delay to their passengers, it would make headline news.

And speaking of headline news, the BBC reports this morning that low cost flights to/from (and within) the UK are significantly down on last year !

Looks like we are now all beginning to realise that low cost (a la Ryanair at least) is not cost effective in the long run.

We'll all be back to full service within 10 years anyway (as has been predicted by many) ....

Roll on the revolution ...

[mutt]

About two weeks ago i was flying out of Tehran on KUWAIT AIRWAYS, it was supposed to be a short trip consisting of a 1 hour sector followed by a 2 hour sector. A?C went tech, 6 hours in the airport was followed by 14 hours in a hotel.

Finally got to Kuwait 20 hours late. Waited for 6 hours in the First Class lounge before they took us to the transit hotel for 5 hours. Finally got to destination after 36 hours of traveling.

KU did at least throw in two hotel visits, but 36 hours to do a 9 hour trip is a bit ridiculous.

So it isnt just Ryanair.........\


Mutt.

[Runway 31]

Two dots wrote:

And speaking of headline news, the BBC reports this morning that low cost flights to/from (and within) the UK are significantly down on last year !

Looks like we are now all beginning to realise that low cost (a la Ryanair at least) is not cost effective in the long run.

We'll all be back to full service within 10 years anyway (as has been predicted by many) ....

Roll on the revolution ...
......................

I see that Ryanair state that their 4 domestic services show that passenger figures are up 30% January-March on last years figures and the total passenger figures are also well up. Which low cost is showing reduced passenger figures, I don't seem to have noted any. It would therefore appear that the public must like low cost flights so as you said roll on the revolution.

Will the decrease mentioned have anything to do with easy taking over Go ?.

[Boss Raptor]

As people have said before me...Ryanair is an LCC and there business model etc. is different to a Full Service Carrier which with most LCC's when it all goes wrong you are on your own...yes this is the face of LCC's not modern airlines service as a whole however...I have pointed this out many times (as has Bealine and a few others) when people rave about the LCC's or ask should I use an LCC as a connecting or thru service to save money...

If you the passenger want to fly for £9.99, 29.99, 59.99 and so on then you must accept these terms and the consequences...if not pay what is nowadays just a bit more for the Full Service Carrier excursion tariff seats...

However personally I think the scenario you describe stinks...which is also what I think of MOL and his/his company's attitude towards passengers...and whether this medium term developmental blip of the LCC on the airline market screen has ultimately done any of us in the aviation industry in the longer term any favours...well I reserve judgement...frankly I think not in terms of redundancies across airlines and infrastructure...

:hmm:

[lod]

FLIGHT WAS DUE OUT SUNDAY AT 19.40Z AND LEFT MONDAY AT 13.18 Z

[PAXboy]

... so how do other airlines deal with their passengers when flights are cancelled? They will do whatever they have agreed to do in their Terms & Conditions of Carriage.

If you travel on an LCC and do not have other travel insurance that might cover this eventuality, then you might get stranded. Of course, it may only happen once in ten years. I think that all of the, "How can they treat people like this?" and similar comments only show that someone else has failed to read the T&Cs. The phrase is re-written and is now: "Your click is your bond". :E

[ExSimGuy]

so how do other airlines deal with their passengers when flights are cancelled ?

Had to go from Riyadh to Dubai on a business trip recently. Emirates are an option on this route, but their timing is such that the flight gets into DXB late evening - anyway, the company had booked me Saudia. (No LCC options here :p )

So leave home 12:30 for a 2-hour check-in and a flight at 15:00 to arrive just under 2 hours later at 17:45 DXB time. Planning to meet the boss, who's flying in from Geneva, in the airport restaurant an hour later.

14:30, flight boards. 15:15, pax disembarked, 2 hour delay announced. 18:00, delay amended to 4 hours as the aircraft is seen being towed away by a tug, pax given their "box lunches" in the departure lounge (just at "prayer time", so those who went to pray got their "whatever-it-was and rice" cold :yuk: ). 20:00, another 747 arrives at the gate and pax boarded. 20:30, pax disembarked again, another delay announced. Another "box lunch" arrives, finally at 23:30 flight is boarded again and soon we're on our way.

Get to hotel - one of the delights of business trips outward from Saudi is that there's the chance of a few "wets" on arrival - not in UAE at almost 3 a.m. - the club beside the hotel was in the final throws of chucking out!

Almost 12 hours door-to door, for a 105 minute flight - I could have driven there in less time. Yes, aircraft do go sick, but two in succesion does not impress me.

As I said, SV is NOT an LCC, and if RUH is not their hub, it's their capital city, and the hub at JED is only 90 minutes flying time away.

Impressed - Not

----------------------------------------------------------
Martin Baker - the only way to fly ;)

[jonathang]

Agree with, "FLEXJET"

Delt with too many passengers who just didn't read their terms and conditions before buying, and get angry when those conditions are followed to the letter.

This occurence does seem strange, Ryanair now have 2 spare a/c based at Dublin and Stansted.

And Dublin operations do attempt to sort the problem.

I think there are probably other circumstances which your parents were not advised about.

Johnny

[SLF3]

Last time I was in Scandinavia the airport was plastered with posters describing new compensation rules for flights within the EU, imposed by law from Brussels. Are these rules in force? Do they cover all flights? What are the compensation levels?