[FormerlyDoS]

Show me a sane man and I will cure him for you.

C.G. Jung

[Bunnahabhain]

Last time I was at EDI there was a henny night in the adjacent check-in queue for a Ryanair flight to Tenreef. We had Sexy Susie, Loopy Lola and about 6 others whose handles I couldn’t be bothered reading after the first two. They had at least prepared for security by removing their clear plastic bags for inspection – these contained no toiletries or cosmetics, just assorted strips of tablets. Well FR are tight on hand luggage so fair enough just take the absolute essentials.

Certainly made the BA logo and “London Heathrow” above the check-in desk somewhat more appealing – can’t say that too often!!

Very had to tell when you’re mad, even if you’re not mad.

[Bjh1234]

It should be recorded that in the event of an emergency evacuation, someone, be they cabin crew or flight crew, has made an assessment that any passenger whose sobriety has been questioned sufficient to call for a police presence, and considers that they will in no way (connected to inebriation or incapacity) impede or compromise the safe evacuation of other passengers. If they have to take ultimate responsibility they might take the task more seriously. This is not peculiar to FR – all too often the majority (usually silent) suffers at the hands of people who should not have been allowed on the aircraft in the first place.

[AllOverTheGaff]

Bunnahabhain – 07/08/2013 20:33 GMT
Anyway, a duty to return to the thread. I would be relieved that the number of drunken pax on a Ryanair flight to Ibiza was only 30.

HA!

So, had a visit from my friend last Friday evening who tells me his son, for the purposes of this discussion we shall call him “Carlos” had made a last minute decision to go to Ibiza for the weekend. Carlos had been in receipt of texts from his friends saying what a ball they were all having. My friend and I discussed the merits of going to Ibiza for 3 nights (he was flying back Tuesday) and that, hey-ho, if we were 24 and had the cash, why not.

Carlos called to explain that he couldn’t get his flight booked back on EZY, I offered to help and duly booked his return flight, Carlos then popped into chéz Gaff and refunded me in Sterling, and we had a wee chat. Easiest option for Carlos, as he was flying out of Preswick and back to Glasgow was for his father to take him to the airport.

I had occasion to call the friend on Saturday and enquired if Carlos had made it to the island of teenage hedonism to be told, in some detail, of Carlos’s in-flight entertainment.

Some have said that the red-tops have exaggerated, but from what I was told, it was horrific. Carlos refused the bus transfer at t’other end and opted for a cab, and seemingly, the other passengers were asking police at Prestwick to offload the trouble makers, the trouble makers calmed down sufficiently for take off, then as soon as they were in the air those who’d requested them to be offloaded were taunted all the way to Ibiza.

Carlos is no shrinking violet (which I am sure you’d already established given he was going to Ibiza in the first place) but even he was shocked by the behaviour of these revellers.

Sma world and that though eh?

[AnthonyDunn]

@ AllOverTheGaff – 08/08/2013 11:45 GMT

Ah, so we cynics about the gutter press got it all wrong and it is straightforwardly a case of FR cabin crew failing in their duty to exercise adequate control on board.

@ FormerlyDoS – 07/08/2013 20:46 GMT

And I had wondered, when STU made reference to a FR MLA-GSE flight in a separate thread, whether it was indeed you. I was just about to raise my cudgels with STU once more – now I know it’s you, I don’t think I’ll risk it. But you were so insistent on the consistency of FR’s product/service offering.

[AllOverTheGaff]

AnthonyDunn – 08/08/2013 13:46 GMT
Ah, so we cynics about the gutter press got it all wrong and it is straightforwardly a case of FR cabin crew failing in their duty to exercise adequate control on board.

Erm – not sure how one would go about subduing a crowd of youthful drunken Jocks all hepped up about going to Ibiza for the weekend.

Carlos did think it merited landing prior to Ibiza and offloading them, he also commented that there was still bother when the Spanish cops came on board.

All round a very unpleasant incident, and I am no fan of Ryanair in the least, but I’d certainly not hold the crew responsible for not ‘controlling’ the drunken douchebags.

[AnthonyDunn]

@ AllOverTheGaff – 08/08/2013 13:55 GMT

Can you ask “Carlos” whether the FAs/Flight deck crew had the wit about them to tell the hoolies that they either “buttoned it” forthwith, or they would have no choice but to divert the aircraft where they would ALL be offloaded? Oh, and the costs of the diversion would fall to each of them individually.

That would have been entirely matter of fact, procedurally correct and a demonstration that oafish and drunken behaviour in the air would not be tolerated – besides being illegal.

[Bullfrog]

So surely if the aircraft was in UK air space when the drunken louts continued their abuse, why did the captain not offload them in the UK ?

It would have been great publicity for media craving O’Leary.

[ImissConcorde]

A different approach here …………..

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2386790/US-Airways-flight-Spain-forced-return-drunk-passenger-restrained-fellow-travelers.html

[AnthonyDunn]

@ ImissConcorde – 08/08/2013 16:28 GMT

Hmm, taking on one might be feasible but thirty…!? I have never witnessed a bar brawl on board an aircraft – and hope never to do so.

[FormerlyDoS]

” But you were so insistent on the consistency of FR’s product/service offering.”

I am they promise little and consistenly deliver little. I don’t see this as a product service offering failure, as security of the aircraft is something much more fundamental.

Now, I’d advise you to do some reading about the jurisdiction when an aircraft is on the ground, with the doors open.

After that, you might wish to ask yourself why the police did not arrest the perps and charge them with an offenceunder ANO 35.

It is a reasonable question to ask why the commander did not divert and I can’t pass an opinion on that as I was not there; in the air, he certainly had the authority to do so.

[AnthonyDunn]

@ FormerlyDoS – 08/08/2013 19:39 GMT

Jurisdiction when the aircraft is on the ground with the doors open: obvious. So if the Old Bill, mindful of ANO 35, decided to do nothing there and then, one has to assume that they considered none of those on board to be, at that point in time, “under the affluence”. So things must have really started brewing up once the doors were closed and they were airborne. As AOTG has pointed out, the atmosphere was unpleasant, aggressive and intimidatory, possibly worse. I really don’t understand why the cabin and flight deck crews tolerated such a state of affairs. And BTW, I would make the comment w.r.t. any flight with any airline.

[openfly]

@ AnthonyDunn

“Under the affluence” What a brilliant phrase! But….in Glasgow?!?!

[canucklad]

Mmmmm……..

Some of you have read my FRightmare review, which coincidentally also departed from PIK… so I do recognise the situation and also agree with quite a few of the comments already made….and my take on it….

A….It would be hypocritical of me to comment on being allowed to board whilst under the influence….and I’m sure most of us have had to “pull our selves together” as we interact with the respective airline and airport staff….through check-in/security/lounge dragons and gate and cabin crew staff…..so I would suggest that it is more about managing “displayed behaviour” rather than “appearing drunk”!!

B….I am not a SNOB, and I’m certainly not in the “East is Best” brigade….having said that I wonder about cultural differences linked to this behaviour…..Whether I leave from GLA or PIK there does seem to be more of a tendency for me to have a “cringe moment” at my fellow Scottish passengers language and generally more subtle aggressive behaviour !

C… I also think in certain circumstances, it’s probably better to ride the storm, rather than potentially inflaming the situation by confronting the individuals….on my flight, some of the lassies where already clearly intoxicated but allowed to board, once up in the air the CC had to make a judgement call…

1) Make extra cash by easily selling them even more drink, on top of the drink they had…or creating a situation where mob mentality took over….
2) I objected, sorry got angry… when they refused to take to their seats during severe turbulence and put my safety at risk…for this the offending girls should have been arrested on arrival!
3) I’m also sure that the parents on the flight also objected to their inappropriate language ….

As for Frightenscare…It’s not the first, nor I suspect the last time that I’ve boarded one of their aircraft a wee bit worse for wear…however I am still more compos mentis than some of the “ out of their face” passengers that are allowed to occupy the emergency exit rows, and are invariably asleep (comatosed) before the doors are shut !

[AnthonyDunn]

So that we all understand that this phenomenon is neither uniquely an affliction of Flyanscare or a recent one, I reminded of my misspent yoof with British Airtours [rolling of eyeballs in certain quarters…] when I was manning the LGW departure lounge information desk one day. With the Spanish ATC silly-buggers causing massive delays, quite a few passengers were getting well oiled and one bloke decided to cross the line from amusing to unacceptable and was duly arrested by the Old Bill.

About a half an hour later, a somewhat concerned lady pitched up to the desk to ask if we might have seen her husband who answered to the following description… The penny quickly dropped and I had to tell her that unfortunately, owing the state of intoxication and generally unacceptable behaviour demonstrated by her husband, he had been arrested and was now sobering up courtesy of Sussex Police at the airport nick. At which point a look of stunned horror shot across her face before she burst into tears, uttering, “Oh my God, exactly the same thing happened last year….!”

No idea whether he and she ever made it to Benidorm.

And thinking about it, the kind of inebriation in the departure lounge was but nothing compared to the end of season bash thrown by the Canadian Armed Forces movements guys. As far as I could work out, every filing cabinet in their offices contained nothing but Canadian Club. As I have previously said, my time at Airtours was one of the best educations you could ever have wished for! Canucklad, they’d have drank you proud…!

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