Interview with Ryan Air's longest serving pilot

[Inquirer]

La Libre is having an interesting interview with Ryan Air's longest serving pilot, one of the few brave enough to stand up for his rights (and having successfully won a legal battle against his employer).

http://www.lalibre.be/economie/actualit ... anair.html

[airtrainer]

Oh, another bashing article. It's been a while...

[Flanker2]

If you don't like a company, you quit. No one forces anyone to become and stay a Ryanair pilot. It says enough about that pilot, who is sinking to a very low level. If he doesn't like it, he can quit, there are hundreds of cadets who will happily take his place in order to repay their huge training debt. No one forces them into debt, but then they end up working for Ryanair because it's the easy way to start repaying the debt (which again was the easy way through training). A few weeks of paradise in Arizona, a decade of misery and debt sleeping in youth hostels.

I didn't like SN's practices, so I quit. You don't see me giving interviews to newspapers while I have much more interesting things to tell than a few pro-union rants. The unions at SN....

BTW, many SN staff fly Ryanair. It's often cheaper than their "staff rates" and FR offers a wider variety of destinations.


So now "The inquirer" is the official anti-Ryanair tabloid newspaper on luchtzak.be

[Inquirer]

So now "The inquirer" is the official anti-Ryanair tabloid newspaper on luchtzak.be

What are you talking about?

I have merely provided this forum with a link to a news article which I found in a Belgian newspaper and didn't find posted on this site yet. I think this is a relevant posting as such, so in that sense there is no need to accuse me of any wrong doing over that: I can't see where i possibly may have violated any forum rules, and if I would have, then it's up to the moderators to judge, and them alone.

I see you are once again in your usual 'lash out' mode, in which everybody you suspect of not fully agreeing with you is being name called, accused and outright insulted. For somebody who only recently posted praise on just how mature discussions on this website can be, your needlessly aggressive, condescending attitude to me and others is not at its place here as its not very mature and not helpful in this discussion in which a long serving Ryan Air pilot gives a rare insider's view on the evolution of the working conditions at his airline.

To conclude: in my understanding, a general rule is to discuss the post, not the poster.
If you absolutely want to discuss a poster rather than the post itself, may i once again suggest you'd urgently start with yourself and shed some light on your own professional background for instance, because despite repeatedly asking for clarification on this matter (and after first stating my background), you still haven't been forthcoming, while trying to get some clarity from your numerous posts in which you make certain claims about yourself gives a track record of either a very volatile and disruptive career, or there being quite some totally unfounded professional claims on your account.

[Squelsh]

Interesting read, thanks for article. I'll just keep my comments to myself before being labeled anti-whatever..
the great thread that this one has been. Civilised conversation, great inputs from everyone, great sharing of information. Is this the sign of a new dynamic on luchtzak.be? It certainly looks like it and I think that we should embrace it.

[wernerrav4]

Indeed interesting read, no comments on FR because it's the pilot choise to stay his whole carreer with FR so I guess he had some good times too

[Tomskii]

So Flanker,

What you're saying is for instance if you'd work for BRU, BRU can tell you to work the limit yet not pay you any extra.

Intresting vision on things you have there.

[Flanker2]

So now "The inquirer" is the official anti-Ryanair tabloid newspaper on luchtzak.be

What are you talking about?

I have merely provided this forum with a link to a news article which I found in a Belgian newspaper and didn't find posted on this site yet. I think this is a relevant posting as such, so in that sense there is no need to accuse me of any wrong doing over that: I can't see where i possibly may have violated any forum rules, and if I would have, then it's up to the moderators to judge, and them alone.

The article is a cheap shot at Ryanair. There are enough of them on the internet and we all know that Ryanair is destroying other airlines, so other airlines sell propaganda through the media. I don't find this article interesting at all, it's just a pilot ranting about his employer of 20 years who is paying him a very good salary, while there are billions of people who work much harder than him for much less money.
The only interesting thing you can read in the article is about the fuel championships at Ryanair. What a great initiative. With a little bit of decent planning, pilots can save hundreds of kg of fuel on each flight. But many pilots are too lazy to save the company this little bit of money here and there. Obviously this shouldn't be misunderstood and Ryanair also trusts on its pilots to put safety first.
With Ryanair, if you always take more fuel than necessary you get warnings. If you take safety risks you get fired.

It's easy to hide behind "don't shoot the messenger". The messenger has a duty to select relevant and concise information, not some tabloid-style alleged "scandal" where a very well-paid pilot complains about his 25 hours working week sitting in a comfy chair with a nice view. Other people in the world in the meanwhile, work for peanuts and without the certainty of finishing their working day alive. I don't see them complaining.

[Squelsh]

Good show. The guy blocked by half of the frequent posters on here, comes to give you a lesson about posting content . Very rich!

The only interesting thing you can read in the article is about the fuel championships at Ryanair. What a great initiative.

So the post did serve its purpose.

We're all old enough to separate the cream from the bullshit, and that's different per individual. Who are you to tell any user on here he's not allowed to post an article from the professional press (because too easy?!) and therefor diss him, just because you happen to find it tabloid style?

[convair]

I propose to elect Flanker our Moderator-in-chief. I see 2 main advantages: there will be much less dissent on this forum and the "billions of people who work much harder" than a Ryanair pilot "for much less money" will be reduced by 1 unit.

@Inquirer
You definitely went too far! Now promise Him not to post anything in the next 200 years without His permission.

[JAF737]

Guys, the best is to ignore him.
If you continue arguing with him, he will never stop...

But yeah, it's difficult to step out of a keyboard when you read bulls*** like this!

You better hope he'll get a job in a Ryanair cockpit soon

[Inquirer]

If you don't like a company, you quit. No one forces anyone to become and stay a Ryanair pilot.

You are aware nobody is forcing you to participate in the discussion of any of the articles posted here either, so you're actually doing exactly what you loathe of others.

The article IS relevant because it appeared in a major Belgian newspaper, and as such it constitutes 'news': if everything that has already been said once is automatically unworthy of any further discussion here, then not much will be left to be discussed, will there?
Allow me to add that you sir, would have very few to write about too because you keep beating the same dead horse over and over again as well in all of your posts which you take far too serious, you know???

Good show. The guy blocked by half of the frequent posters on here, comes to give you a lesson about posting content . Very rich!

I for one don't want to automatically ignore people's posts because it's detrimental to the discussion, but it is clearly noticable that all those insiders and experts who do have quite interesting stuff to post on this forum all have flanker2 on their blacklist, because he seems to be talking into thin air whenever he posts in any of the hot topics...

[Flanker2]

For a fair comparison, the newspaper in question should interview SN pilots.

What do they think about their crappy 7 on - 3 off rosters, never ending salary cuts, high taxation that leaves a big part of the salary taxed at 57%! Their powerless unions that talk a lot and even try, but do nothing productive to change the course of the company.
What do they think about having to refuse to take charge of an aircraft because of repetitive and multiple MEL items that never seem to get fixed and make them worse than uncomfortable? (and it's not the technicians' fault if management wants to use MEL extensions after MEL extensions to get to an A-check and don't keep parts in their stores.)

Captains at Ryanair have it quite good compared to captains at other airlines. First officers have it less good because if they don't have the command in them and their base captain doesn't like them, they get replaced by new cadets who are ready to pay for the type-rating.

The human resources policy also determines how efficient your operation will be. With SN's 7-3 rosters compared to Ryanair's 5 on 4 off, your pilots are wasting more time in commuting to work and in preflights because they have shorter days but more days of work. This means that your pilots will have less time off and will more easily become tired or sick. This then requires standby pilots to be activated and more often than not resulting in delayed flights, impacting your operations.

If you want to run a successful airline, your operation must be simple and efficient.

I don't want to run an airline, I'm just comparing a well-run airline with an ill-run airline. SN can learn a lot from others, but judging from the comments here, it doesn't seem that SN is interested in learning?

[sean1982]

The reality is that Belgian airlines (to a lesser extent at SN but definatly at JAF) seems to be able to infuse their crew with a sense of:" We are the cream of the crop. It doesn't get any better then this and you can thank your lucky stars that you are allowed to work for us" and most people I've spoken to who or worked for them (my partner included) actually believe that as well!! But then if you are going to compare terms and conditions (specially pay) with any airline of our surrounding countries, you should be ready to start crying. Workload is extremely high and rewards are not matching that. If you don't dance to their tune (or kiss the right butt) their is always the threat of losing your job looming on the horizon.

Not saying that FR is the land of milk and honey, far from, but at least the pay more or less matches the workload. My partner got out of the Belgian airlines and is flying for a Swiss company now and it's the best move he could have ever done terms an condition wise.

[Passenger]

We have a proverb in Dutch for people without arguments: "aanval is de beste verdediging" - to attack is the best defence.

So stay on topic please: this topic is about firm statements by Ryanair's longest serving pilot, and he hasn't referred to Brussels Airlines and/or Jetairfly at all. If you want to discuss an interview with a SN-pilot or a JAF-pilot, feel free to do so. Find one and post it here.

[airazurxtror]

La Libre is having an interesting interview with Ryan Air's longest serving pilot

Actually, it's Ryanair - in one word.
You can't even get the name right !
That tells a lot ...

[sean1982]

We have a proverb in Dutch for people without arguments: "aanval is de beste verdediging" - to attack is the best defence.

So stay on topic please: this topic is about firm statements by Ryanair's longest serving pilot, and he hasn't referred to Brussels Airlines and/or Jetairfly at all. If you want to discuss an interview with a SN-pilot or a JAF-pilot, feel free to do so. Find one and post it here.

And with my statement I'm trying to put the things the pilot is saying into perspective by comparing it with other airlines. Can I only mention the airline the topic is about or something?? How are you going to put things into perspective then? If that's the case then 99% off all topics are "off topic"



PS: You won't find an interview with an SN or JAF pilot cause they're too scared to lose their job when they open their mouth, but if you want I have an ex-JAF pilot sitting next to me.