20 Reasons NOT to fly Ryanair

Charles. Well, he does have to supply his own cardboard box, of course. I do see what you mean: but he took over from his father on the aphids. Volunteered, on bended knee while knuckling his forehead, to do both jobs for no additional gruel – provided he didn’t have to fly RyanAir, of course. Beneath him, he said.

Probably cheaper than using their own wings. And besides, aphids don’t terribly mind being bossed around and generally despised by ants. Or being delivered to destinations which sound like the one they thought they were were going to but are actually 73 miles in the wrong direction. Pretty unfussy lot all round, aphids. Good choice of airline for them.

Thank you Cedric, for this insight into real life. I was wondering why the Butler never had any loose change these days.

Seriously though, the concept of underpying staff in order to motivate them to provide better service is old and honourable, desecrated only by the despicable practice of collecting tips within the ‘service charge’ and not passing the cash to the servants.

Since Ryan et al’s staff seem to be, in general, a happy and motivated crew, if unsophisticated, this is just another example of Ryan getting it right. Happy crew make satisfied customers and enriched shareholders.

At ‘regional’ airports the LCC crew are often the same as those working the BA and other bigboy checkins. Perhaps in preparation for further service withdrawals to leave us better served by ‘foreign’ longhauliers and LCCs. The dinosaurs will die. Remember we didn’t move out of the Stone Age because we ran out of rocks – we changed to better products when they became available.

Some years ago I was at a charity dinner where the speaker was the late Brian Johnston and he told a story of a cab ride in India. The cab was late at the airport and kept him waiting while the driver had an animated conversation with another driver, on the way to Brian’s hotel the driver got lost three times including one memorable near impact with a cow, broke down once needing the elderly Johnston to give the car a push and finally delivered him to the hotel hot, sweating, very late and agitated. The driver sat there while Brian got his own bags out of the boot and watched him stuggle to the kurb and as Brian turned away the driver shouted,

“Hey – no tip ?”

Apologies everyone – light years off-topic, I know. Sorry.

We moan about the decline in service, food etc over the years but as long as people want the cr*ppiest product and the cheapest price then this decline will continue. As a result my mantra is to actively support loyally (even during hiccups) those airlines that have some concept of service and by supporting them with business hope that the full(ish) service business model survives. Ryanair is not an option for me anyway as it flies from airports that are miles away and does not fly long haul but even if it did I would rather listen to Richard Branson for 5 hours telling me BA AA was unfair than fly Ryranair.

One reason for flying Ryanair is that their green credentials as they are probably the most efficient and environment friendly airline in the business.

http://www.ryanair.com/en/about/ryanair-and-the-environment

B737-800 fleet
Average fleet age approx. 3,5 years old
Maximum possible seating configuration – 189 seats
High cabin factor
Bypasses congested airports meaning less ATC delays
Combination of high baggage fees and strict carry-on policy reduces average total baggage per pax.

All in all this makes Ryanair a very efficient producer. The carbon footprint left by a Ryanair passenger is lower than other carriers, especially flag carriers with business seating etc, congested hub airports etc, older fleets.

Having said that Ryanair has been a catalyst behind major growth in the European aviation market (capacity and volumes) which in itself is bad for the environment. However, if the choice is between Ryanair and BA on short-haul then Ryanair is the environmentally friendy choice.

Interesting facts Scandinavian – whilst I am green friendly, it doesnt extend to travelling on Ryan Air.

It would be interesting to hear if anyone did choose Ryan because of their green credentials.