Anybody watched the program about RyanA1r?

[XLMonkey]

'Tis true - BA pilots have to pay a percentage of their training back from their salaries over 5 years - if they leave before then they have to pay that back. (Can't remember the exact figures).

£15k (3k pa)

[Hart-floot]

Channel 4 versus Micheal O'Leary

Channel 4 .....
The programme also claims that the reporters, Charlotte Smith and Mary Nash, “encountered a staff culture with a somewhat dismissive attitude towards customers, which seemed to be based on the premise that if a customers pays next to nothing for a ticket, they should expect nothing”.


O'Leary's response ....

“Channel 4 can shove this programme up its jacksie,” said O’Leary. “There’s nothing in it.”

[expat]

Going direct to major airports is much easier and not much more expensive.

Sometimes. I used them from France to Scotland because my starting point and destination were in the country, not in Paris and Glasgow.

I could drive to Beauvais much more easily and quickly (and cheaply) than get into Paris and then out to CDG. Prestwick is easier for driving and for trains than Glasgow too. And for international direct flights to Scotland, you take what you can get.

[Mailman]

Flew Ryan Air at the beginning of the year...wasnt so bad leaving Stanstead as we got on the plane first (had offspring with me) but at Baden Baden when we were called up first to board all that really meant was getting on the bus first before the rest of the hordes piled on after you!

Honestly...how farken hard is it to have a allocated seating plan?

The other thing that bothers me are the dolly birds who work on these planes...I bet that if anything hit the fan that none of those pretty girls would be able to get the doors open on the planes! Seems the hiring policy is to go for looks ahead of ability (sort of what I look for as a manager! ).

Mailman

[hyperD]

'Tis true - BA pilots have to pay a percentage of their training back from their salaries over 5 years - if they leave before then they have to pay that back. (Can't remember the exact figures).

[tim123]

Yes I did see that. Luckily have never flown with Ryanair and never will. Their cheap fares are a myth and it usually only costs an extra 30-40 to fly with a decent airline. Plus they usually fly to out-of-the-way airports, so if you add the transit costs .....

For me, 40 quid more is a 100% increase. And that's just to change to another low cost airline, albeit a more polite one.

To fly with a 'real' airline is usually 80 quid more or three times the price.

As to the airport location, then that is a personal thing. On both my current and previous assignment, the 'middle of nowhere' airport that FR flys to, is far more convenient than the main airport that normal airlines fly use. I am happy to fly to these airports, I just wish that a better airline did.

AIH I am currently choosing not to fly FR because it is winter. I can't risk getting bumped onto a flight in a weeks time if the airport closes due to the weather (which it has at least once).

tim

[tim123]

I love the way they charge their cabin crew £25.00 per month for the uniforms and charge £1500 for the training!

With cabin crew only getting £36.00 per return flight and working over 10 hours per shift on 3 return flights they can be only earning barely above minimum wage after all Ryanair's "deductions" !

Expecting airline staff to repay their training costs is normal industry practice.

'renting' the uniform does seem a bit OTT though.

[sasguru]

for those of us that didn't see it, what were the main points?

- Exploitation of cabin crew
- Fast turnaround threating safety (e.g. an escape slide not having enough pressure and being ignored)
- Lax vetting and security of staff
- Dirty planes

Allegedly, of course.

[Hart-floot]

I love the way they charge their cabin crew £25.00 per month for the uniforms and charge £1500 for the training!

With cabin crew only getting £36.00 per return flight and working over 10 hours per shift on 3 return flights they can be only earning barely above minimum wage after all Ryanair's "deductions" !

[~Craig~]

for those of us that didn't see it, what were the main points?

[premiere]

Intervention by the appropriate authorities over their dodgy practices should be swift and brutal.

Never flown with them, don't want to fly with them and after last night, never will fly with them.

Going direct to major airports is much easier and not much more expensive.

Never mind Ryanair, more like Dodgyair

[Daywalker]

Missed it, but I see the CEO has placed all the communication between the production company and the airline.

Interesting reading!

[Francko]

Yes I did see that. Luckily have never flown with Ryanair and never will. Their cheap fares are a myth and it usually only costs an extra 30-40 to fly with a decent airline. Plus they usually fly to out-of-the-way airports, so if you add the transit costs .....

Well, some of the complaints are not fair. They tell you where is the airport and it's your duty to make sure how to go where you need to go. Plus in some cases it might be not a problem at all (for me Rome Ciampino is more convenient than the main airport for example).

[sasguru]

Yes I did see that. Luckily have never flown with Ryanair and never will. Their cheap fares are a myth and it usually only costs an extra 30-40 to fly with a decent airline. Plus they usually fly to out-of-the-way airports, so if you add the transit costs .....

[Francko]

Creepy..... not sure if I want to flight with them again... the conditions in which workers are pressured are worse than those of pharaon's slaves.