From the outside it would seem that there is a range of interpretation under JARs and that some administrations are more, ahem, "flexible" than others.
Ireland and Iceland are often mentioned, but there are probably others.
In this age where survival is based on tenths of a cent in RPKs, tilted playing fields are sooner or later going to result in serious recriminations.

I agree the divide and rule sentiment is disgraceful and fingers crossed it will end soon. I dont pay for my sims, and never have done. I do have to pay for my HOTAC when Im doing them :(

Our standards are high and the sim isnt just a rubberstamp. One day we may be able to convince management to up their standards of management.....:ok:

don't blame us
 

i strongly suspect that if your company had gone bust and you were out of work, you too would be flying at ryan just like so many others. it is bloody difficult to get a job flying when one isn't flying. it is so much a matter of timing and catching the waves of hiring which a pilot really has little control over.

the flight deck is a safe as we make it. and when one grows up, one should have the ability to disregard whatever tactics happen in their office and set the atmosphere in your office-the flight deck.

and multiple earlies are actually more natural than starting with an early and ending on a late in the same week. i can set my alarm for a full week and quickly fall into a sleep pattern that is better than setting a different alarm time every day.

it sounds as if many of you think we should give up flying and work at pizza express rather than work for an airline that might bring your job under threat someday. (and guess what--your management will fill their pockets)

don't blame the pilots. you might be in the same boat sometime. but it won't really be my fault.

I can not understand why some of you think that the postings up till now have been blaming the pilots. No one has done so. It's a red herring and only serves to create bad feeling. Stick to the point.

Ryanair
 

I had the 'Pleasure' of flying en route to a 'positioning sector' via 'Ciampino' recently, twice, and I read the book autobiog on Ryanair, for something to do, Scary or what ! M.O. is a 'control freak' and very ruthless in his business accumen, and his motives, there is a lot of backroom double dealing always going on there and from the horses mouths of 'aircrew' who were not too shall we say 'discreet' in their airing thoughts of the company whilst engaged in their own conversations in the cabin/galley, to someone who did not fully understand either terminoligy or flight regs, it would have been 'Most' un-nerving, I was fortunate to be sat with two 1st O's (swedish) returning from very tight 'sector duties' to Stansted, both of whom were quite happy to lay bare the shortcomings of the company. Its unfortunate that the 'cannon fodder' usage of pilots and crew drives such high pressure businesss decisions, a lot more care and attention to details may help?
Someday, somewhere, and with some unfortunate results, It'l all go 'pear' shaped, and the people who will have to pick up the pieces will have been 'cast adrift' by the high command and left to face the music. Others will I'm sure be scuttling away protecting their own interests and looking to place blame elswhere.

What a load of bull!

So the person who started the thread now is a spokesman for other professional pilots.

All his of post is assumption and supposition. He clearly doesnt work for Ryanair and does he have any foundation for his comments or is our new spokesman just guessing what Ryanair is like.

I work for the company and yes its not perfect but as far as the flying is concerned the pilots I train are pleasantly surprised by the high standards set by the training dept and the trainers. And yes there is an active safety culture within the company.

Dont forget we are a LoCo so we have got to be doing it better and safer than some because our so called reputation.

Yes FR need pilots but they are not that desperate and people fail and that goes for experienced types as well. Eg 12 LOT(Polish Airlines)pilots turned up for the sim but only 2 got past the FR sim ride. And they are not alone.

The places we fly and the flying we do sorts out those who can and cant. If you are weak this sort of flying will find you out.

As for FTLs then I suppose his thrust applies to Aer Lingus and everyother Irish airline. Dont hear to many slagging EI.

Ask the Buzz guys they were working CAP371 as part of FR and the ones I know far prefer the Irish way now.

Brand new airplanes, home every night, a roster that no pilot moans about-now theres a first, shed loads of cash and shares, and an impeccable safety record.

It has its moments like any airline but lets put things rightly in perspective.

PS Ive never had or been put under any pressure by management on any flight. Full stop

How many times have you gone tech away from home base?

You don't because you simply fly an unsafe aircraft back to where it can be fixed. Last month an aircraft departed XXX with a front door slide inop but with a full load of pax. That is illegal and totally irresponsible. (Want me to print the dest/Flt #?)

You seem to think that the ability to actually fly the aeroplane is what makes a pilot. Most airlines can take that bit for granted. What makes a good pilot is the decision making process. The first and most important decision is whether the aircraft is safe to fly. In Ryanair the answer is always yes, simply because you have very few crew of the quality to say no to the intimidation they will no doubt receive.

This really all stems back to the airlines safety culture. Ryanair seem to have no Union monitored confidential safety reporting system (this is an airline doesn't even have a complaints dept), it can't because it has no union involvement. The sim checks are a joke. How many real time LOFT's do you do during your recurrent check? How often do crews not go into discretion?

With a Professional license come responsibilty. That responsibilty is towards those people who put their lives in your hands. It is vital therefore that the flight crew are able to have the last say in any safety issue. In Ryanair this simply isn't the case, poorly trained crews are not equiped to be able to halt the operation. This is the situation that, if it spreads will kill people. That is why it disturbs the professional. Ryanair are running the gauntlet and by squeezing costs so much they are forcing others to do the same. The whole industry knows this to be the case but the Irish regulators seem powerless to act. If it makes money it must be good. One day it will all go horribly wrong and the cost of MOL making lots of money will be the lives of those who flew in an aircraft that should never have left the ground.

Went tech not so long ago and engineers were depatched from STN to fix it.

But dont go tech very often because the airplanes are so well maintained.

Remember every FR aircraft sits on the ground at every base from 2330 until the first departures about 6am so the engineers have ample time to fix snags.

FRs operation can only work if the planes are well maintained and dont go tech. They are well maintained and invariably they dont go tech.

Believe it or not at a meeting with MOL after 9/11 we all assumed we would be entering night flying business to get better utilisation of the a/c but MOl dismissed this idea for the maintenance reasons above. Think we were all shocked and relieved at his response!

Take it you have done a FR sim check to qualify your statement or is this an uneducated guess?

The engineering at Ryanair really is first rate - whether at the bases or in STN, PIK, DUB or SNN. If the alleged departure with a slide really did take place which I find impossible to believe, why didn't you take the facts you claim to have to the IAA or CAA? I'm not expecting an answer...

Training is also of a very high standard. Just ask the many pilots that did not get past the sim check or even line training. The operation is more demanding than at mainstream airlines so it really does separate the men from the boys.

Any other "facts" regarding our (immaculate) safety records? Feel free to contact the IAA with evidence.

The airline is not perfect (with less sh*t coming from MOL and his merry men I dare say it would be) but the pay is good, rosters are great and so are promotion prospects. Something that can't be said about many outfits...

Do Ryanair restrict the amount of de-icing fluid that the handling agents can use to de-ice an aircraft?

sky9: complete and utter drivel

MOL has so many Pprune-type pilots squirming - he just has to be doing something feckin' right!

Ah! I wondered where you had got to.

That would be because EI work to an agreed set of working conditions, while FR work to the legal limits. Big difference.

So what your saying is that the agreed in house regulations are OK but the legal limits arnt? Yeah right :confused:

We dont dispatch with problems with the aircraft, I never ever have in many years with the company. Never heard of anyone dispatching with a slide U/S. We have a MEL just the same as everyone else, if itsays dont go WE DONT GO, simple as that!

As for restricting the amount deicing fluid, geeze we realy are dredging the bottom of the barrel now arn't we! Dont be so bloody stupid!


As for JUSTBELOW CAP

:No it isnt ! Your talking out your arse. We have well maintained new aircraft so the reliability is good. If the are U/S then they get fixed and we take another one.
Yes and we are professional show me how Im not, give me the proof you believe you have. Laughable!!!

We do and we exercise it

What complete and utter drivel ! I hold a JAA license that is approved and ratified I meet the requirements to keep it current. I am in excellent CURRENT practice. I am well traned and well equiped. You are talking out of your arse YET AGAIN!
:yuk

We moan and groan because our terms are being eroded slowly but surely. Paying for my HOTAC and my own medical hardly presents a flight safety hazard! We NEVER comprimise on safety and we are never pushed into doing so. Safety levels are never eroded and never will be, management realise that is a step to far. Now get of your high horse!

[/b]well maintained new aircraft so the reliability is good[/b]

I respectfully suggest that does not automatically follow.

Reliability decreases with time. With the odd exception, even Boeing has 'Friday' aircraft

Ummmm, with the greatest of respect, this is not the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. There is a condition known as "infant mortality" that applies to all systems including aircraft systems and structures.

New planes, like new cars, often have defects resulting from build errors. Then of course every time you maintain an aircraft you have infant mortality all over again.

There is no reason a 50,000 hr aircraft can not be as reliable as a 3,000 hr aircraft provided it is properly maintained.

Case in point many years ago was the gyros in F27 and B727 aircraft, solution to increase gyro life was ...... don't change gyros. Damage to the bearings during installation (brinelling) was the major cause of failure.

To put it another way, I'd rather fly in a 30 year old aircraft maintained by a top team of LAME's than a brand new aircraft maintained by the second eleven.

:ok:

Re De-icing fluid

I only asked because about 4 years ago the de-icing supervisor of a UK handling agent told me that there was a contracted maximum amount of fluid. (he actually quoted the figure to me). I’m glad to see that this is not the case.

I will remember that next time I go and buy a car...forget the modern new BMW car Im going for a clapped out Morris Minor with 120,000 on the clock just so long as its been serviced.

The 50000 hour plane can have the same relability provided its been properly serviced.....case in point! Problems are less likely to occur with new systems. Why on earth would anyone buy new modern planes if it were not the case? They would look for the oldest ones they could find and then maintain them well.

And with the greatest repect our engineers are hardly second 11.