Ryanair/Emergency exit pax still random

[Yanchik]

December 2007, Budapest - EMA. All overwing exit seats occupied by charming but frail old ladies without sufficient English to understand the FA's request to stow their belongings overhead, or strength enough to comply.

People burned and choked to death in Manchester, and as a profession we worked out that floor-level lighting, unimpeded and altered emergency exit access and altered procedures could contribute to saving lives in future.

Any posters on here who know enough of the Irish CAA (or, against my better judgement, the safety management of Ryanair themselves) to think that I might not be wasting my efforts were I to exert myself to the extent of a written paragraph or two to them ? No aspect of my previous experience of Ryanair's relations with passengers leads me to think that I'll get anything from them better than a dogturd on my doorstep in a flaming paper bag, but, you know, it's my old engineering-trained conscience springing up thinking I should at least ask...

Travel safe,

Y

[Yanchik]

PS. Yep, I checked for previous threads. Just noting that this was December 2007 and there's been silence for a few months. Do we not care, or are we now inured to it ?

[ab33t]

Ummmm I think money may be the issue here , you pay for those seats.

[trebor]

I thought you did not pay for seats on FR . It has always concerned me about the safety . Especially before they started having pre recorded announcements . Sometimes I could not understand a word the crew were saying. It also amazes me how quick crew move up to supervisor position . In other airlines it take years to get to senior before permanant number1. As I am ex cabin crew I hopefully should I be faced with an emergency be able to look after myself and assist with my experience

[IRRenewal]

Ummmm I think money may be the issue here , you pay for those seats.

Incorrect. Whoever gets there first gets the increased legroom of the overwing emergency exit rows.

However, a passenger who is not physically and mentally able to assist with an emergency evacuation is not allowed to sit in those rows according to Ryanair procedures.

Speak to the crew on board if this happens, expressing fear for both your own and others safety. They can't really ignore you if you do, plus you might get the extra legroom yourself.

[Blues&twos]

IRR, you're right. I was fortunate (?) enough to get on a recent Ryanair flight first, and chose an overwing exit seat.Had a quick read of the instructions above the door before taking my seat, and as I did so an FA said "I see you've already briefed yourself then, did it all make sense?"

I didn't pay any extra for the seat.

[WHBM]

In my experience with Ryanair it is SOP when boarding starts for a CC member to be assigned to stand mid-cabin at the overwing exit seats and catch ineligible pax/give a supplementary briefing to those choosing them. Have they given this up at some bases ?

Ryanair get a lot of stick for poor customer relations, but for their cabin safety procedures, with overwing exit seats highlighted by different coloured headrests, and the door weight (in the old 737-200 removable exit days) and a caution to look out for fire first both placarded by the door handle (which few other operators do), I always thought they had someone responsible who thought about things in this area.

[MrJoshua]

I flew Ryanair to and from Klagenfurt in Austria almost 3 years ago and managed to get the port wing exit seat both there and back.

I was not aware of any added responsibilities; none of the CC mentioned anything about it.

Excellent leg room though :ok:

Just out of interest... What added responsibilities do go with sitting by a wing exit?

[Blues&twos]

MrJ, you have to understand how to open the emergency exit door (and get it out of the way). You also have to be physically able to do this. Hence no children/infirm pax are permitted to occupy these seats. Also not allowed to store any hand luggage or coats etc. on the floor - all has to go in the overhead bin.

[Yanchik]

Just to add, in case it wasn't clear from my OP.

The cabin crew took no action to check that the pax were fit/coherent, and gave them no extra briefing.

Of course, I should have intervened. But the whole Ryanair customer relations experience is so stress-ridden and unpleasant that I honestly doubt my chances of success (and the perspective I'm coming from here is fifteen years of travel and work in the Russian-speaking world; I'm not unused to getting unlikely things done by recalcitrant people...)

Y

[WHBM]

MrJ, you have to understand how to open the emergency exit door (and get it out of the way). You also have to be physically able to do this.
Actually the first thing to understand is that FR's 737-800s do not have overwing exits like this, which the majority have briefed on for the last umpteen generations, but are top-hinged, outward swinging, counterbalanced doors which do not have to be discarded.

I don't know how this works when the fuselage is distorted or not level, but presumably Boeing have worked it out.

But the key responsibility is to take the lead, be able to understand when to start an evacuation, understand the door controls from the pictograms (often the most challenging point), open the door, and lead the exit by the correct route. Because only when you have done that can others follow.

[Blues&twos]

Ah, must have been the last A319 flight I was thinking of....apologies for misleading info! (Although thinking about it now I could have claimed that "get it out of the way" meant "swing it upwards". Damn!).

[Paracab]

I sat in the emergency exit seat row on a recent FR flight. I was expecting a short 'briefing' or a quick word about the nature of the seat, as has happened when I've flown with other carriers, but nothing at all was said on this occasion.

[Donzers]

Since we are on the topic of Ryanair safety procedures, flew back from Belfast this evening, we were sitting in 2DEF, with coats on our knees, so CC asked us to put them on for landing, no problem with that, what amazed me was the pile of cabin crew's coats and hi-viz jackets sitting on 1ABC for landing.

Also, whilst waiting to board, noted the FO doing his walk round while busily texting on his mobile! Scary.

[The Beerhunter]

the pax briefing at overwing exits was only introduced as an sop in the last few months after the absence of such a procedure was raised by line personnel. concerns such as those raised above can raised with ryr customer service, the iaa, or even chirp (www.chirp.co.uk (http://www.chirp.co.uk)) - the info eventually gets into the right hands through any of those avenues.

[babemagnet]

At Ryanair the cabin crew does not have to give a personal briefing to Pax sitting at emergency exits! If you guys do not know what you talk about stay away here! By the way what is so difficult about opening a 737-800 emergency exit? You just have to pull on the red handle THATS IT!

[WHBM]

I find it surprising that Ryanair do not have anything in their SOPs for briefing pax in emergency exit rows, because they certainly used to some years ago, can they have withdrawn this ? It must all be in their AOC-certified documentation.

I do wonder though how the Irish IAA patrol operators they have responsibility for with bases on the other side of Europe.