Ryanair cancel flights due to pilot shortage?
Alba Gu Brath
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Hmmm. One thinks FR should look closer to home before they start lashing out at BAA. Their season timetable shows they operate to XRY, REU & CIA every Wednesday evening. These flights are all showing as cancelled on the BAA Stansted website!
Cancellations due to commercial reasons are a pretty regular occurence in aviation, whether it's RyanAir, BA or whoever. However, cancellations on this scale, and apparently due to low loads, is pretty rare. It's a hell of an admission to say that you can't even get enough load factor on a large number of flights to make them viable to operate. Stansted alone is showing that 12 of this evenings 42 FR flights are cancelled.
Cancellations due to commercial reasons are a pretty regular occurence in aviation, whether it's RyanAir, BA or whoever. However, cancellations on this scale, and apparently due to low loads, is pretty rare. It's a hell of an admission to say that you can't even get enough load factor on a large number of flights to make them viable to operate. Stansted alone is showing that 12 of this evenings 42 FR flights are cancelled.
stilljustanothernumber
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Maybe the flights have been cancelled due to poor loads, rather than lack of crews? Has anyone been rostered to operate any of these flights and then taken off them? Just a thought.
stilljustanothernumber
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Stansted alone is showing that 12 of this evenings 42 FR flights are cancelled.
Alba Gu Brath
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So there should be loads of Ryanair crew at home with their feet up then?
(note: poor attempt at humour)
None of the reasons supplied so far stack up:
1 - Late delivery of aircraft - hardly makes sense when they have airframes sitting doing nothing at STN & LTN!
2 - Flight crew hours - IIRC FR pilot annual flying hours are calculated on a fixed year. Come the end of the year they are reset to zero. If the flights are cancelled becuase of this reason then that indicates very poor planning.
3 - Low loads - Doesn't say much for FRs much lauded sales department. Low loads on some flights are understandable, but not on the sort of scale that is apparent today.
I call you back
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Point of information:
That is the FR interpretation of the 900 hour rule authorised (of course) by the IAA. There is no guarantee this arrangement will continue indefinitely.
FR pilot annual flying hours are calculated on a fixed year. Come the end of the year they are reset to zero.
Last edited by Faire d'income; 18th Jan 2006 at 18:28.
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I wonder if anyone else has seen the following news story on the Ryanair website and found it in anyway ironic...
------------------------------------------------------------------------
18.01.06
RYANAIR IS NO. 1 FOR ON-TIME PERFORMANCE
BRITISH AIRWAYS’ PUNCTUALITY “POOR” AND “UNACCEPTABLE” SAYS BA*
Ryanair, Europe’s No. 1 on-time airline, today (18th Jan) welcomed British Airways’ confession that its on-time performance is in the words of its CEO, “poor” and “unacceptable”.
“Ensuring that aircraft depart and arrive on time should be a fundamental concern for everyone, right up there with safety and security. It is something our customers expect BA to get right. Our current performance is unacceptable”, said Willie Walsh, CEO of British Airways.
Peter Sherrard, Ryanair’s Head of Communications said:
“British Airways can’t match Ryanair’s fares, no fuel surcharge guarantee or on-time performance and that is why Ryanair now carries more passengers each month than British Airways’ worldwide traffic.
“Civil Aviation Authority statistics for 2005 confirm the chronic delays at BA. However it is not just punctuality that is “poor” and “unacceptable”, it is their prices and fuel surcharges too”.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Perhaps Mr O Leary and Mr Sherrard should try and get their own airline in order before releasing drivel like this.
One last thing - I see that the cancelled flights are not included in the "flight information" section of ryanair.com - so presumably they'll still claim to have 1250% punctuality or some other unlikely figure for this month?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
18.01.06
RYANAIR IS NO. 1 FOR ON-TIME PERFORMANCE
BRITISH AIRWAYS’ PUNCTUALITY “POOR” AND “UNACCEPTABLE” SAYS BA*
Ryanair, Europe’s No. 1 on-time airline, today (18th Jan) welcomed British Airways’ confession that its on-time performance is in the words of its CEO, “poor” and “unacceptable”.
“Ensuring that aircraft depart and arrive on time should be a fundamental concern for everyone, right up there with safety and security. It is something our customers expect BA to get right. Our current performance is unacceptable”, said Willie Walsh, CEO of British Airways.
Peter Sherrard, Ryanair’s Head of Communications said:
“British Airways can’t match Ryanair’s fares, no fuel surcharge guarantee or on-time performance and that is why Ryanair now carries more passengers each month than British Airways’ worldwide traffic.
“Civil Aviation Authority statistics for 2005 confirm the chronic delays at BA. However it is not just punctuality that is “poor” and “unacceptable”, it is their prices and fuel surcharges too”.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Perhaps Mr O Leary and Mr Sherrard should try and get their own airline in order before releasing drivel like this.
One last thing - I see that the cancelled flights are not included in the "flight information" section of ryanair.com - so presumably they'll still claim to have 1250% punctuality or some other unlikely figure for this month?
I've had a flight on my regular commute cancelled about three weeks ahead. Being Ryanair, it has not been cancelled, but just disappeared. It was available to book last week but not there yesterday. Shortage of crew, shortage of aircraft or shortage of SLF. Surely the provincial airports who give them so many subsidies will be unhappy about the loss of trade for their bars/shops/carparks, etc.
cheerful pessimist
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Disclaimer 1: This is my first post so go easy on me!
Disclaimer 2: I am SLF!
In July last year I booked a December midweek daytrip on Ryanair. In October I received an email notifying me of a change in the schedule with the outgoing flight cancelled and a suggested replacement that was not suitable. Cancellation took 3 attempts via the Internet and one fax to Dublin before the money was returned.
Over the course of the next week I watched on the Internet their midweek schedules for the rest of December and noticed a number of other flights disappear both to this and to other destinations.
I was also due to go to a different destination two weekends ago and in November I recieved an email notification implying that the evening return flight had been cancelled. Ryanair's suggested alternative was also not acceptable ie return on the plane that you have just arrived on twenty five minutes earlier! So I cancelled the booking and the refund went through first time.
Someone else in my office has been looking forward to visiting their family and as they had booked the flights on Ryanair we have been joking about whether their flights would be cancelled as well. Yes you have guessed it yesterday one of them was! Yet another unhappy customer now having to make alternative arrangements.
It would now appear that my experience is not an isolated one and that rightly or wrongly I can no longer consider Ryanair as a viable airline option. If I have to be somewhere and Ryanair are now trigger happy at cancelling flights, (even with some weeks notice), I would rather not have the thought in the back of my mind 'will they cancel or won't they?'. This is especially so if I am booking for more than one person. I would rather book an alternative 'safer' option first than trust Ryanair and indeed I have now put this into practice.
From memory my cancellations both occurred about six weeks ahead of the departure date and so no compensation was payable as it was more than 30 days from departure.
In my opinion as SLF the real question that needs answering by Ryanair is not about the number of cancellations made on the day of departure but on how many flights that have been offered to the public upto and including the day of departure have since been cancelled. It is against that question that Ryanair needs to be judged both by myself and possibly by others as well.
Perhaps I have just been unlucky and these flights would have been cancelled under normal circumstances anyway but I have never had or heard of so many flights being cancelled by a supposedly 'proper' airline in such a short period before and so reluctantly and possibly sensibly I am now putting my money into the coffers of other airlines and thus into the pockets of their pilots/cabin crews etc. instead.
I am not angry or bitter towards Ryanair just disappointed that they are letting themselves, their passengers and their employees down and as my Granny used to politely say they 'really do need to pull their socks up'!
Disclaimer 2: I am SLF!
In July last year I booked a December midweek daytrip on Ryanair. In October I received an email notifying me of a change in the schedule with the outgoing flight cancelled and a suggested replacement that was not suitable. Cancellation took 3 attempts via the Internet and one fax to Dublin before the money was returned.
Over the course of the next week I watched on the Internet their midweek schedules for the rest of December and noticed a number of other flights disappear both to this and to other destinations.
I was also due to go to a different destination two weekends ago and in November I recieved an email notification implying that the evening return flight had been cancelled. Ryanair's suggested alternative was also not acceptable ie return on the plane that you have just arrived on twenty five minutes earlier! So I cancelled the booking and the refund went through first time.
Someone else in my office has been looking forward to visiting their family and as they had booked the flights on Ryanair we have been joking about whether their flights would be cancelled as well. Yes you have guessed it yesterday one of them was! Yet another unhappy customer now having to make alternative arrangements.
It would now appear that my experience is not an isolated one and that rightly or wrongly I can no longer consider Ryanair as a viable airline option. If I have to be somewhere and Ryanair are now trigger happy at cancelling flights, (even with some weeks notice), I would rather not have the thought in the back of my mind 'will they cancel or won't they?'. This is especially so if I am booking for more than one person. I would rather book an alternative 'safer' option first than trust Ryanair and indeed I have now put this into practice.
From memory my cancellations both occurred about six weeks ahead of the departure date and so no compensation was payable as it was more than 30 days from departure.
In my opinion as SLF the real question that needs answering by Ryanair is not about the number of cancellations made on the day of departure but on how many flights that have been offered to the public upto and including the day of departure have since been cancelled. It is against that question that Ryanair needs to be judged both by myself and possibly by others as well.
Perhaps I have just been unlucky and these flights would have been cancelled under normal circumstances anyway but I have never had or heard of so many flights being cancelled by a supposedly 'proper' airline in such a short period before and so reluctantly and possibly sensibly I am now putting my money into the coffers of other airlines and thus into the pockets of their pilots/cabin crews etc. instead.
I am not angry or bitter towards Ryanair just disappointed that they are letting themselves, their passengers and their employees down and as my Granny used to politely say they 'really do need to pull their socks up'!
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As an SLF this is all very difficult to understand. Did Ryanair never intend to operate these flights, i.e. (i) Icould never book them, (ii) did they cancel them more than 30 days ago (contractually OK) or (iii) did passengers expect to fly today. The answer to these questions is impotant.
If (i) obvioulsy OK
If (ii) undesirable but acceptable
If (iii) unacceptable.
If (i) obvioulsy OK
If (ii) undesirable but acceptable
If (iii) unacceptable.
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Wow. I am a very regular visitor to this website, but dont generally post, is it me or am i seeing lots of comments from usernames that I dont see on the R&N forum? ..with the absence of some i quite often see..
I wonder how many customers just sit and observe like myself..
I wonder how many customers just sit and observe like myself..
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Apparently 5 flights out of Liverpool cancelled today ????
MOL, If your reading this, I have a licence even though only 400 hours,
if YOU want to pay for my type rating and pay me whilst I do it, then I may consider coming working for you.
Please can I be based at Liverpool
MOL, If your reading this, I have a licence even though only 400 hours,
if YOU want to pay for my type rating and pay me whilst I do it, then I may consider coming working for you.
Please can I be based at Liverpool
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Excuse my ignorance, but does "SLF" in this context refer to "Self loading freight" or not?
MunkyPuzel - I, like you, tend to read but don't post that often. The amount I post is almost directly related to the amount of academic work I have at the moment - the more work I have, the more I procrastinate.
With regards to this topic, I travel very regularly with Ryanair and generally have no complaints about their service. However, I just wish that, for once, they could put their hands up and admit to having some blame in this situation, rather than pretending nothing is happening. That, I really would respect.
MunkyPuzel - I, like you, tend to read but don't post that often. The amount I post is almost directly related to the amount of academic work I have at the moment - the more work I have, the more I procrastinate.
With regards to this topic, I travel very regularly with Ryanair and generally have no complaints about their service. However, I just wish that, for once, they could put their hands up and admit to having some blame in this situation, rather than pretending nothing is happening. That, I really would respect.
Thread Starter
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From the Independent:
Ryanair laid into ABN Amro after one of the investment bank's analysts sent the airline's shares lower by incorrectly warning that its schedules had been hit by widespread cancellations. Ryanair, whose shares fell 2.7 per cent at one point, said it regretted that such a "false and inaccurate rumour" had emanated from the bank. There were no inconvenienced passengers because Ryanair had withdrawn the flights a month ago when it knew a delivery of new aircraft would be late.
-------------------------
So there you are then, a truthful statement from Ryanair
Ryanair laid into ABN Amro after one of the investment bank's analysts sent the airline's shares lower by incorrectly warning that its schedules had been hit by widespread cancellations. Ryanair, whose shares fell 2.7 per cent at one point, said it regretted that such a "false and inaccurate rumour" had emanated from the bank. There were no inconvenienced passengers because Ryanair had withdrawn the flights a month ago when it knew a delivery of new aircraft would be late.
-------------------------
So there you are then, a truthful statement from Ryanair
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Originally Posted by Rollingthunder
So, what are the stories for today? They are, No they're not, Yes they are, are not, are too?