RyanAir Captains ...
 

.... would you like to share your experiences flying for Ryan? Yes I have used the search function, but all I can seem to find are disencahted FO's and those that feel slighted on having payed for a rating, not receiving it. And yes I am thinking about a DEC position. What I have discovered from this board, besides what was stated above, is a feeling of frustration/anger towards management and their treatment towards employees.

The questions I would have for someone in a Captains position woud be;

1) Is it as bad as you read on these boards? Are you left hanging while out on the line, if problems arise's or is there support?

2) Do they honor your contract, or stated work conditions

3) Is there any felxability in the schedules. (i.e.) do you have options with the "roster".

4) Do you enjoy flying with them ?

I'm not trying to stir things up, I am honestly trying to get an understanding before I make a decision one would regret. I have had the "career" and am looking for a little bit more of an adventure. I have flown for companies with bad/inconsiderate management whose strongest talents were that they could make, what otherwise would be a great job, mediocre, or at worst, misierable. The one way they make that happen is to hold the risk of losing the job over ones head. That I would be imune to... just want to have fun flying and living in Europe.

Any input would be appreciated.

1. No, it's worse

2. You gotta be joking:rolleyes:

3. Unlimited for the airline. In fairness, some possible for contractors.

4. What do you think?

Did you ask REPA? I was told by somebody that they sometimes give replies to questions.

I got the REPA blurb on Ryanair a few days ago. From my point of view it was balanced and fair.
I'm Airbus ratted and when enquired of FR the deal involving conversion wasnt great.
Really want Cork base.

An honest reply.
 

1. No, and no. Negative sentiment you're perhaps aware of here and elsewhere is driven principally by a small group in Dublin who've been maliciously persuaded by IALPA and their stillborn, deaf, dumb and blind idiot savant REPA, that they're in a position to influence outcomes. They aren't and they're grumpy about it. On the rare occasion when technical issues arise down route, there is plenty of highly capable support from OPS and MAINTROL in Dublin. To avail ones self of this, however, requires a mobile phone to be turned on.

2. Yes. Direct entry captains are well taken care of. There are issues in respect of, especially, cadet first officers, but these are being resolved.

3. Not really. Rosters are of a fixed pattern. 5 on 3 off in the case of based pilots, and 5 on 5 off in the case of unbased contractors. Its important to note, though, that this 5/5 roster is not available to permanent employees, all of whom are based in a location of their choice, wherever possible. Furthermore, the 5/5 situation is conditional on being sent, literally, anywhere in the network, week after week. By this I mean you may spend 5 days working out of Dublin, 5 days off, 5 days working out of Girona, 5 days off, 5 days working out of Rome, and so on. A demanding schedule, not to everyone's taste, but popular among pilots who are family men resident far from existing Ryanair bases. Rosters are published on Friday evenings around 1800UTC for the following week commencing Monday. Swaps are possible but difficult to rely upon due to the rather extraordinary workload of crew control.

4. Yes, very much indeed. By far the most demanding and professionally satisfying flying I've done in almost 30 years in the air.
I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you, Your Honour. Cork is the elephants graveyard (sorry Willy) and mainly older captains are put there because of the ludicrous restrictions placed on captains over 60 flying over France and Italy. The only routes out of Cork are Irish domestic and UK, at the moment.

Acomabird In relation to 1), Can you financially afford to wait up to two or three months without a salary while yhou wait for Sim, LSTs, Line Training or a combination of all three. This is the reality, and yes, I personally know Captains who suffered this wait.


pressman Leo don't do direct questions when the truth hurts. Much like our Teflon CEO.

You don't really understand do you Leo? Should have let one of the other Leo's field that one.

To the unwary:

Listening to Leo Hairy Camel can prove to be very misleading and bad for your piloting health. He is a regular participant here where he mouths half-truths and makes misleading or incorrect statements. He is, in effect, a Ryanair spokesperson who claims to be a regular line pilot.

You don't have to listen to the many, many, infinitely many warnings here about Ryanair. You don't have to believe them. But you would be very wise to check out what is said with real live Ryanair pilots - and preferably with some who joined in the past couple of years, or who have been around for a long time.

Do not become a Ryanair pilot who says "but I did not believe what was said on pprune could really be true". Check it out FIRST.

Leo lets himself down
 

GGV
Leo has on many occasions a valid point.
My difficulty is that he lets himself down with the insults.

Perhaps he occasionally has whenever the tablets wear off:O
But it's his comments on the recently demoted captain that really really undermine his claim to be anything other than an @rsehole through which his masters hand pulls the strings.

I applied for D/E command at FR, but looking at the unfairly demoted Captain case, I have decided not to attend selection, because I cannot take the risk of being victimised and having my career damaged, through exercising my judgement and airmanship.

For those who know aviation, I would say this was the most damming issue brought up in the C4 programme. Unfortunately, it was only touched upon.

18 hours a week
 

One point worth clarifying is the claim that we only work on average 18 hour/week based on 900/50 weeks.

With a roster of 5 on 3 off you work 5/8ths of the year = 228
less 28 days annual leave = 200
900/200 = 4.5/day
On a 4 sector day you will have 2.5 hours duty on top for turn arounds etc
So over a 5 day week you will work an average of 35 hours. This will vary from 20 to 50 hours duty time. Dare to take any annual leave and you can be sure to be working 50 hours when you return. Fine if you are sitting in a nice office taking an hour for lunch and morning/afternoon tea breaks but not much fun starting at 5am then nonstop till 5pm.

JW there is more to Leo than the insults, and valid comments (and ideology). There is also a bit more to our friend than his being an ordinary “line captain” with “almost 30 years in the air”, as is obvious to many Ryanair insiders. Among other things he seems able to attack individuals within Ryanair from a rather well informed point of view (normally these are pilots, but he recently attacked “DOFLTOPS” - in a posting that was subsequently removed).

Those attacks are normally directed at undermining the credibility and integrity of the person involved and are very much along the same lines as the “words to the wise” from management to selected pilots; the latter are like informal “briefings” about the “underlying realities” – stuff like “I’m not actually accusing X of being an axe wielding psychopath with sado-masochist tendencies and bad breath, but if I were you I would be careful about being in the cockpit with him in the dark”. X might well be somebody who is in bad odour with the great man himself.

Always an interesting coincidence when it happens. When you get onto their wavelength, as many have, it becomes second nature to spot their little ways here.