Ryanair empty front seats

[keltic]

On flying Ryanair, rows from two to four are always empty. Flight attendants never allow anyone to sit there, and I affraid they are not for sale.

Never seen in any other airline. Could anyone explain me the reason?. Safety, I know, but seens something quite unusual.

[Sam-MAN]

I believe its to do with the aircraft's CG.

Sam

[MarcJF]

But if it's to do with C of G, why just Ryanair and not other carriers using same aircraft?

[Getoutofmygalley]

MarcJF

This has been asked many times before and it is to do with CofG and how Ryanair load the holds.

Use the search function and you will find many threads to explan this.

[Maude Charlee]

In a nutshell, when Ryanair have a fairly light load on a flight (been a few years so can't remember the exact pax number required), the first and last 6 rows are blocked off to ensure the a/c remains in trim. Partly because standard loading is to use the forward hold first instead of the rear hold as with other 737 operators, and partly because the galley fit in Ryanair is almost non-existent.

The loadsheets are also extremely simplified for ease and speed of use, so this type of seating arrangement makes the job of the dispatcher very easy, as the cabin trim is very tightly controlled.

[keltic]

Thanks for the replay

[Coquelet]

There are not always empty rows on FR flights. Quite often, in my experience, flights are full - save for a few no-shows.

[Anansis]

Apparenty closing off the front and rear rows also packs passengers in closer together. This means they are less comfortable than they would be if they were able to spread out and more alert to purchase food,drink and duty free etc from the flight attendants.

[victorc10]

Yea but I guess having the aircraft load within the prescribed limits is more important, apparently!

[Jofm5]

Yea but I guess having the aircraft load within the prescribed limits is more important, apparently!


Imagine a set of scales and how you balance them, then think about a plane and its center of gravity and possible reprocussions of heavily loading forward or aft. For more indepth discussion read weight and balance of aircraft (http://www.pilotfriend.com/training/flight_training/wt_bal.htm) - although for a light plane the same concepts apply to airliners.

[Solar]

It's so the passengers can't see the pilots reading the instruction manual.

[Flying_Frisbee]

Yesterday 22:23 Anansis
Apparenty closing off the front and rear rows also packs passengers in closer together. This means they are less comfortable than they would be if they were able to spread out and more alert to purchase food,drink and duty free etc from the flight attendants.

What evidence do you have of this?

[powerstall]

thought they were Premium Seats! :ok:

[WHBM]

There are various approaches to ensuring that aircraft are loaded within their Centre of Gravity limits when only partially loaded, it's a particular issue where you have "free" rather than allocated seating.

Ryanair are not te only airline to do this, but each carrier comes up with their own procedures to ensure this is handled correctly, and this is the way Ryanair have chosen. Ryanair are the only free-seating carrier overseen by the Irish Aviation Authority, and the agreed operational procedures could have originated from there.

It potentially saves time on the turnround as well (a Ryanair point of close attention), as the dispatcher or crew does not have to check and possibly reseat if they detect an imbalance when passengers have boarded.

If all seats have been sold, it's not a problem as Mr Boeing has kindly placed the wings in a mid-CofG position which facilitates this :)

[Seat62K]

Could speed up the headcount on "lightly loaded" sectors as well, I imagine....

[OFSO]

Could speed up the headcount on "lightly loaded" sectors as well, I imagine....

"Lightly loaded sectors" ? On Ryanair ? Are you kidding ?

Take the cash, line 'em up, pack 'em in....I haven't been on a flight with the first few rows cordoned off since summer began !

[tu_ki]

Less than 177 pax block off rows 3 and 4

Less than 132 pax block off rows 1 to 6 and 30 to 33

If row 2 is blocked off might be a wheelchair or just in case a wheelchair pax shows up last minute

[TightSlot]

This issue is linked in FAQ