Ryanair in 2015

[airazurxtror]

I think that checking the names is perfectly justified.
Otherwise, it would be easy for an enterprising person to buy all the cheap tickets under fake names, and then sell them at a profit when the prices have risen.
The name on the ticket is checked against the IC/passport of the actual passenger and a change of name costs 110 euros : it would cancel any such profit, and it's a good thing.

[sean1982]

Why is it not deemed a security issue in a domestic flight to fly on just a drivers licence, but only on a foreign flight?

It's clear it has nothing to do about security at all, it's just a rule which is part of the additional revenue generators set out in the business plan. The reason it isn't applicable on domestic flights gives it away: applying it there too would lock out a fair amount if passengers which don't hold international travel documents, so it's really nothing but a business decision.

I will not be drawn into this pissing game anymore. Clearly you missed the ball again inquirer, because the people in the UK do not have a national ID card, a passport is a MANDATORY proof of identity, so everyone has one! The only reason why it is not required on a domestic flight within the UK is because UK nationals have free rights of travel within their own country, so an airline doing domestic flights within the UK HAVE TO accept driver's licenses as photo proof ID

[KriVa]

This may just be me, but Sean's explanation for it actually sounds quite reasonable.
I may be wrong, of course, but aren't carriers allowed to apply stricter procedures than wat (both) countries dictate, in cases like these? If FR has a policy of only accepting a passport for an international flight, even when both countries state it isn't required, isn't it FR's right to impose that extra bit of security?

A lot of people know I'm not exactly Ryanair's biggest fan, but I don't see anything wrong here, honestly. If it's in the terms and conditions, you're supposed to abide by them if you want to fly with FR. After all, you're supposed to have read them thoroughly. Not that anyone really does, but this kind of stuff is rather basic...

[Inquirer]

I will not be drawn into this pissing game anymore.

Oh come on, Sean, there's no pissing game at all, just a simple explanation as to the real reason why things are done the way they are; not the usual fancy safety excuse, but the plain reality.
Even Airazurxtor got it, or is he suddenly pissing on ryanair too now?
It's to prevent ticket swaps, which are highly lucrative, period!

As I have said before, just like KriVa i think there's absolutely nothing wrong with it even, but just say it the way it is; what is off putting is the constant search for fancy excuses.
What's wrong with saying you somehow need to make some money from your passengers, if not through their basic tickets, then through other channels? Making money is the essence of your airline and rightfully so, but for some reason, it's something which may not be said aloud and everybody must be kept in the mindset that the whole plane is full of people flying for dirt cheap.

people in the UK do not have a national ID card, a passport is a MANDATORY proof of identity, so everyone has one!

Let me correct that to: "everyone is ENTITLED to having one",
but just like in Belgium, not everybody in the UK has a passport either.
So if your airline would demand a passport ID, it would mean it would be impossible for all those people in the UK who do not hold their passport to fly on it, hence they suddenly content with a drivers licence.
Nobody is deliberately going to lock itself out of a market of course.

The only reason why it is not required on a domestic flight within the UK is because UK nationals have free rights of travel within their own country, so an airline doing domestic flights within the UK HAVE TO accept driver's licenses as photo proof ID :roll

FWIW- within the Schengen zone, people have the right of free travel too, but still you do not take a drivers licence there, yet insist on upgrading the ID requirement to the next available document. :problem:
It's not the first time that a fance safetely explanation from yours falls into bits and pieces the moment one starts to think about it for a minute and asks some pertinent comparative questions: it's generally an indication it's far more of an excuse than anything else really.

[sean1982]

If anything falls to bits and pieces, it's your pretended knowledge of aviation, which is clearly severly lacking. I said what I had to say. Go ahead and have the last word if you want. (oh and BTW, it has nothing to do with safety, but everything with security, but given your vast and extensive knowledge you clearly (don't) know the difference)

(I'm also pretty sure that you know that to get OUT of the country, the UK that is, a passport is REQUIRED, so in short everyone has one! and btw, FR really did not want to accept the drivers licens, but they had in fact no other choice. I teach this stuff you know, but surely you know better, as usual)

[Inquirer]

Oh yes, go ahead Sean, start to make a fool of me, that's so nice of you in the absence of any factual elements to continue this discussion.
As you know very well, I am not working in aviation, but I do have a good professional understanding of finances so I know when something is added to a certain process for that purpose only: it's about the money, just as airazurxtor already poined out and rightfully so even. Why can't you not even admit to that?
Somehow, it's a complete irony that at an airline which is one of Europe's most profitable ones per capita, one may not give even the slightest hint at any of their fees, taxes, levies and charges actually being profit driven? I really don't get it? What's wrong with people knowing where you make money from?
It's not a secret, you know, if even a complete aviation nitwit like me gets to see it?!

[sean1982]

That's the whole point. You PRETEND that you know it, while in fact you're constantly putting the airline in a bad light (together with some of your friends here) because that's the whole point isnt it?

This post
The topic about "automated check in"
The topic about "FR allowing possibly mentally deranged cabin crew into the flight deck who might crash the plane"
The topic about dangerous hiring practices from LCC's (which then turn out to be used by SN and JAF as well)
And I could go on and on

In dutch we would call it: een beschadigingsoperatie.
Its not only clear to me but a lot of other people on the forum too. Your luck being that you and your friends have the mods on your side (most of them anyway)

But do me a favour, next time you fly your beloved SN, please, just take Tour drivers license.

[Inquirer]

That's the whole point. You PRETEND that you know it, while in fact you're constantly putting the airline in a bad light (together with some of your friends here)

I can read it straight from the ballance sheet of your airline, you know?
or are you now going to pretent no revenues are made from all these things?
Seriously, ther's only so much spinning you can do, before it becomes a straight out lie, you know?

As to your main frustration about the bad daylight your airline is allegedly put in by this discussion:
It seems to me that everything which explains the ways in which it is earning money is labeled that way by you, whereas it's exactly the essence of a commercial venture, of course, and nothing to be ashamed of even, in se. Strange attitude, to say the least. You don't honnestly believe your airline is doing what it does for the brotherhood of all men, do you? It's about the money of course and I merely show you on occasion where it is actually being made; much to your dislike it seems, for some odd reason?!

But do me a favour, next time you fly your beloved SN, please, just take Tour drivers license.

It's probably me, but I have no clue what that is supposed to mean even?
Probably another remark to show what an aviation expert you are: maybe one day you will also draw some general interest in the refined financial aspects of it all, if only to know where the money you earn with it, is actually made of? It's how people expand their intelectual horizons beyond just their own little occupational daily routine: it would undoubtably do you good.

[sn26567]

Can we now, please, stop that discussion on ID documents needed to travel with Ryanair and go back to the topic in this thread: Ryanair news ?

Thanks!

(And just for information, in one of the Luchtzak AvGeek trips someone managed to board a Hop! plane both ways without any ID: he had forgotten his documents at home).

[airazurxtror]

Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary suggested relations with other airlines could be a possibility in the years ahead as the European aviation sector consolidates.
“In five years we might have relationships with the big carriers because they can’t afford to sustain their losses,” he told delegates at the Institute of Travel and Meetings’ annual conference, referring in particular to legacy airlines’ short-haul operations.

He predicted a scenario in which Europe will have just five ‘big’ airlines left - the IAG group (British Airways and Iberia), Lufthansa, Air France/KLM, easyJet and Ryanair - and that the growing Gulf carriers will take 20 to 30 per cent stakes in their European counterparts.

Ryanair will deliver a ‘technological revolution' in the next 18 months and rapidly expand its network as it aims to grow from 100million passengers annually to 150million by 2024.
He estimated that 60 per cent of growth will come from incumbent airlines cutting back and 40 per cent will derive from new routes and new destinations.
“We’ll be in every airport in Europe apart from Heathrow, Frankfurt and Charles de Gaulle,” said O’Leary. “Incumbent carriers aren’t growing and airports want our business.”

On the Ryanair’s change of tune with regard to the corporate market and GDS distribution, he conceded that it had learned much from easyJet.
“I’m finding we’re now doing almost everything I said we’d never do,” said O’Leary. “We should always have the humility to learn from our competitors as long as we don’t compromise the things that make us successful.”

http://www.thebusinesstravelmag.com/ind ... ivals.html

[airazurxtror]

Thirty years after Ryanair first began operating from a prefab at Waterford Airport, Ryanair Labs - "a tech startup within an airline" - is where a highly skilled team of analysts, data scientists, designers and software developers is aiming to make the low-cost airline as digitally sophisticated and customer-friendly as the likes of Amazon.

http://www.independent.ie/business/iris ... 71705.html

Short extract :

"Ryanair processes 250,000 to 300,000 bookings a day, and more than 40 million people a month use the website, so it has to function extremely fast. We monitor its performance down to the millisecond. It's our front door; it takes nearly all the bookings. While our old one was like an obstacle course, the updated one last year went from 17 clicks to book a flight to five, and we'll continue to improve on that."
An updated version of its app that launched last year saw the average booking time almost halved, from 3 minutes 47 seconds down to 1 minute 54 seconds. It now opens very quickly too; it previously took up to 14 seconds.

"We've taken the bugs out and we're now much quicker to react," he adds. Labs benchmarks it and the website against those of competitors such as Easyjet, British Airways and Vueling, although the "chunky feel" of children's toy maker Fisher-Price has also provided some inspiration. One possible end goal is a one-click booking in the style of Amazon.

The staff are also working on a more personalised experience for regular fliers. Their MyRyanair account will be launched in September, "providing a very fast, seamless experience involving very few clicks. It'll be as familiar to people as Linkedin and Google in its look and functionality."

[airazurxtror]

http://www.lejdd.fr/Economie/Entreprise ... nce-729548

- Le Journal du Dimanche : On a souvent remis en question les salaires et les conditions de travail de vos salariés…
- Michael O'Leary : Nous avons actuellement 300 pilotes et près d'un millier d'hôtesses et de stewards sur une liste d'attente qui veulent travailler pour nous. Toutes les choses que l'on entend sur Ryanair sont des inepties. Beaucoup de compagnies comme Air France suppriment des emplois. Nous, nous en créons, nous augmentons les salaires et nous payons nos cotisations retraite.

- The wages and working conditions of your employees have often been questioned ...
- Michael O'Leary: We currently have 300 pilots and nearly a thousand of hostesses and stewards on a waiting list who want to work for us. All the things we hear on Ryanair is nonsense . Many companies such as Air France cut jobs . Us, we create jobs , we increase salaries and we pay pension contributions .

[crew1990]

The paid of the crew are ok at Ryanair, but only once you finished to paid your training. I remember the hard days when I started with them, it was't easy at the end of the month. But once the training and the uniform, badge etc paid. I actually had the dolce vita in Italy.

But I flown for 3 other companies, one paying much less and 2 paying much more, so based on my payslip from those 4 airlines I would say that the Ryanair salary wasn't that bad and is "ok".

[UAE777]

What a clown, that ex boss of mine!
Ryanair is nothing but the flight school of Emirates, Qatar and Etihad, with literally hundreds of his experienced pilots participating in the assessment program to join one of the major airlines of this world in the Gulf. No surprise if you know the work/pay conditions offered, as well as the flat carrier opportunities linked to it: flying your whole life for a regional carrier on old fashioned planes which are stripped of anything which could make the job comfortable isn't doable till 65, especially not when you are constantly asked to cut corners to save a few cents here and there!
A few years to log the hours and gain some valuable operating skills to be called an experienced pilot and off they all go, apart from some idiots who think they are the man because they are called captain at 25, while not having the authority to decide on a full potable water uplift even! ROTFL!
In ten years they'll be here too like all the rest; we've seen many cases of Ryanair hotshots joining Emirates after all, already.
You should see our crew centre here in DXB: full of ex FR guys, all pleased to have left this regional episode behind them. I am one of them and happy for it every day!
How many EK pilots are flying for Ryanair, in comparison?
Think about it: MOL isn't spending a cent not absolutely needed, and his crews are no exception to that. They are paid nothing to write home about in the end and are made to work their ass off till they quit voluntarily. Given the opportunities offered here, they are currently doing so faster than he can replace them even. Wait till the Paris air show, and another batch of wide bodies ordered by the ME3 and he'll be really crying for crews to fly for his little regional airline!

[airazurxtror]

I am no pilot, but as a whole, I would rather work for a "little regional airline" in Europe than for a big Gulf airline - in those countries where freedom is at best a relative concept - and let's don't speak about the fate of women ...
Working in those countries is good for those who care just for money - and not much for culture and freedom and occidental civilisation.
This is perhaps off topic, but I think it should be said.

[sean1982]

What a clown, that ex boss of mine!
Ryanair is nothing but the flight school of Emirates, Qatar and Etihad, with literally hundreds of his experienced pilots participating in the assessment program to join one of the major airlines of this world in the Gulf. No surprise if you know the work/pay conditions offered, as well as the flat carrier opportunities linked to it: flying your whole life for a regional carrier on old fashioned planes which are stripped of anything which could make the job comfortable isn't doable till 65, especially not when you are constantly asked to cut corners to save a few cents here and there!
A few years to log the hours and gain some valuable operating skills to be called an experienced pilot and off they all go, apart from some idiots who think they are the man because they are called captain at 25, while not having the authority to decide on a full potable water uplift even! ROTFL!
In ten years they'll be here too like all the rest; we've seen many cases of Ryanair hotshots joining Emirates after all, already.
You should see our crew centre here in DXB: full of ex FR guys, all pleased to have left this regional episode behind them. I am one of them and happy for it every day!
How many EK pilots are flying for Ryanair, in comparison?
Think about it: MOL isn't spending a cent not absolutely needed, and his crews are no exception to that. They are paid nothing to write home about in the end and are made to work their ass off till they quit voluntarily. Given the opportunities offered here, they are currently doing so faster than he can replace them even. Wait till the Paris air show, and another batch of wide bodies ordered by the ME3 and he'll be really crying for crews to fly for his little regional airline!

Still wondering what they did to piss you off so much all Belgian pilots in CRL and BRU seem to pretty happy

It's true btw, captains do not decide on water uplifts. That would be the no1 actually

Is this your precious "happy" airline?

http://www.wsj.com/articles/pilot-workl ... 1428587945

[crew1990]

For my part, Ryanair was an episode of my life I didn't really enjoy it s a personal opinion but stil I'm respectful toward them and extremely gratefull because they gave me the opportunity to enter the market where in Belgium it's very difficult when you are a french speaker, thanks to the discrimination even if Brussels Airlines is a little bit less discriminative about it. Ryanair is not (to me) not the best airline about service but it's an excellent school for all the thing about safety, and security. If one day Brussels Airlines would go to bankrupt I wouldn't have any problem to go back in the "low cost" sector even if it's not my favorite one, but never ever I will go to one of those Emirates, Etihad or something!

[airazurxtror]

Asked if Ryanair's fares could fall further, Michael O'Leary told French weekly Le Journal Du Dimanche: "Absolutely, by at least 10-15 percent over the next two years. In 2016 our average air fare could be at 40 euros. This will come as we pass on lower oil prices. We will also continue to grow passenger numbers and cut our costs."

[sean1982]

For my part, Ryanair was an episode of my life I didn't really enjoy it s a personal opinion but stil I'm respectful toward them and extremely gratefull because they gave me the opportunity to enter the market where in Belgium it's very difficult when you are a french speaker, thanks to the discrimination even if Brussels Airlines is a little bit less discriminative about it. Ryanair is not (to me) not the best airline about service but it's an excellent school for all the thing about safety, and security. If one day Brussels Airlines would go to bankrupt I wouldn't have any problem to go back in the "low cost" sector even if it's not my favorite one, but never ever I will go to one of those Emirates, Etihad or something!

With all respect, crew1990, but service level is not even comparable with what it was 3 years ago

[crew1990]

Yes I know that Ryanair have a better service than before but still it's another philosophy than Brussels Airlines, understand me well I'm not saying one is better than the other it's just it's different Ryanair have one class where cabin crew are well trained to push the sell to a maximum and they are very good at it, there is some target on each flight, and if a cabin crew don't get the target several months in a row he get a nice letter from Dublin (it was my case once). In brussels airlines, in light economy in the European flight we also sell thing because we consider that if a passenger is willing to eat or drink he has the right to do so, so yes we have a couple of thing to sell but we are not pushing the sell, we don't promote the thing we have on the trolley, we don't have target. Once again I'm not saying one is better than the other one it's just that it's another philosophy and having working in both I know which one I prefer. Even if I have to admit that I miss the Mars Muffin