Ryanair seat enforcement

[davidjohnson6]

I've noticed recently, that Ryanair cabin crew have been getting a lot more strict on ensuring pax don't sit in the seats at the very front of the aircraft if they aren't meant to. The line given is that it's because of weight and balance.
Is there a genuine desire within FR to improve weight/balance around takeoff/landing (and if there is, then I have to respect it), or is this just an excuse which can't be argued against to mask the real reason, namely protecting the revenue around persuading pax to pay more for their preferred seat on the aircraft ?

I've seen too many people in aviation and related environments claim "security" as a reason for almost anything when the motive is actually nothing of the sort, or invoked all kinds of
"This is an airport, I am wearing a uniform, you must do everything I tell you without question and if you do not give me kiss my backside, I will prevent you from flying and have you thrown in jail"
that I'm now just ever so slightly cynical...

[Denti]

At the moment i suspect it is both. During the pandemic with very light loads there were numerous W&B problems with passengers not sitting in their assigned seats (cabin zone) ending up with a center of gravity and resulting trim that did not really work well or unexpectedly. With light loads even small number of passengers can put the CG in a place where it shouldn't be.Not working for FR, but we did introducce a new seat-row procedure to assure that the numbers we expected match the numbers in the real cabin at least for take off as those are important for our trim setting.

And of course, we are still in a pandemic. Many countries use seating information for their trace programs and can fine airlines quite heavily if passengers were routinely not in their assigned seats.

On the other hand, of course if there is a higher price for those seats, it is in the companies interest to enforce seat assignments.

[Skipness One Foxtrot]

Revenue protection in the main, been like that for ages. If you want to sit down the front then pay for it. Something for nothing is not in their DNA.