Ryanair are great

PolishBigSpender

rag31 wrote: »

How about their complaints statistics?

Find a fair way of judging them and BA based on actual complaints that were the fault of the airline (and not the passenger, who is frequently an idiot) and we'll see.

rag31

Oh yes, you are right PBS. Let's take their share price as a good indicator of customer complaints and problems instead..... :rolleyes: Makes much more sense than using complaints numbers....

Becky

budgetflyer

these are the May stats rag31
http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/news.php?yr=09&month=jul&story=cst-en-090709
Customer Service Statistics May

RYANAIR NO 1 Customer Service StatISTICs MAY 2009

RECORD 93% OF FLIGHTS ARRIVE ON TIME

Ryanair, the World’s favorite airline, today (9th July 09) released its customer service statistics for May. Ryanair has a policy of publishing its customer service statistics each month. These confirm that Ryanair delivers Europe’s No 1 customer service to airline passengers.

During the month of May 2009:

• 93% of over 40,000 Ryanair flights arrived on time.
• Less than 1 (0.93) complaint per 1,000 passengers was received.
• Less than 1 (0.36) mislaid bag claim per 1,000 passengers was received.

CUSTOMER SERVICE STATISTICS MAY 2009

2008
2009

On-time flights

87%
93%

Complaints per 1,000 pax

0.50

0.93
Baggage complaints per 1,000 pax

0.49
0.36

Complaints answered with 7 days

99%
99%

· Ryanair is the No.1 on-time airline (beating Easyjet every week since 2003);
· Easyjet hasn’t published its on-time statistics since 27 April ‘09 – late again?;
· Ryanair guarantees the lowest fares and ‘no fuel surcharges ever’;
· Ryanair operates Europe’s youngest, greenest, cleanest fleet.

PolishBigSpender

rag31 wrote: »

Oh yes, you are right PBS. Let's take their share price as a good indicator of customer complaints and problems instead..... :rolleyes: Makes much more sense than using complaints numbers....

There's no real way to verify complaints numbers, as people will often complain about things that are outside the control of the airline - or will complain because it's their own stupid fault and they can't admit it. How many times on the Airline show did people complain about Easyjet, yet most of the time, it was actually their own fault?

The share price is a much more reliable way to judge - as bad companies will always fall.

Interesting to see that Easyjet have stopped publishing their 'on-tim'e- figures - did Ryanair get to them with the ridiculously cheesy 'ANOTHER FLIGHT ON TIME' jingle?

rag31

Thanks for those stats - interesting reading.

Re: share prices, the banks instantly shoot to mind. Bad to the core but high share prices for absolutely years. I am not convinced that share prices can be relied upon for very much tbh.

Becky

PolishBigSpender

rag31 wrote: »

Thanks for those stats - interesting reading.

Re: share prices, the banks instantly shoot to mind. Bad to the core but high share prices for absolutely years. I am not convinced that share prices can be relied upon for very much tbh.

The problem with the banks was that they were allowed to get away with some very creative accounting, combined with the fact that many of them didn't even know what they were trading in when it came to sub-prime debt.

Ryanair is a much simpler model - and I think this is where the difference is.

It's actually a shame that there's not a central complaints authority from where complaints to the airline can be forwarded - it would give a neutral view of just how many complaints are due to the airline and how many are due to passenger stupidity.

There is something about Ryanair however - they actually do operate one of the youngest, greenest fleets in Europe along with Easyjet. This is part of the reason why they're cheaper than most legacy carriers - they simply can't afford to have planes lying around broken.

rag31

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

It's actually a shame that there's not a central complaints authority from where complaints to the airline can be forwarded - it would give a neutral view of just how many complaints are due to the airline and how many are due to passenger stupidity.

It is a shame there is not an independent complaints authority for airlines - not only a shame, but pretty shocking IMHO. It is more difficult to believe statistics given out by a company about itself.

I wonder if you can write a post without referring to people as stupid or idiots.... :rolleyes: I dread to think what you think of people claiming bank charges (they must have known about them upfront!) or who have been scammed.

Becky

budgetflyer

rag31 wrote: »

Thanks for those stats - interesting reading.

Re: share prices, the banks instantly shoot to mind. Bad to the core but high share prices for absolutely years. I am not convinced that share prices can be relied upon for very much tbh.

Becky

Yes interesting in that % of complaints have almost DOUBLED ( from MAY 08 to MAY O9 although its still less than 0.1% . How much of that is down to how difficult Ryanair actually make it to complain, I dont know, as all my flights have been fine, Ive never needed to.

Re share price being an indicator of how well a company is doing - no way.

Solid businesses have almost collapsed due to runs on their shares. The markets can (+ often do) make or break businesses on a whim or rumour+ with the banks not lending, even the most sturdy businesses can run out of cash and go bust.

I really dont think anyone knows how to measure a good business anymore anyway. If they are trading, they must be doing something right!

In the past Ryanair have been very successful using future options for fuel and aircraft purchase, and in this tight economy I suspect they will be ripping up any option they think they can renegotiate at a better rate.

PolishBigSpender

rag31 wrote: »

It is a shame there is not an independent complaints authority for airlines - not only a shame, but pretty shocking IMHO. It is more difficult to believe statistics given out by a company about itself.

Yep, I'm not going to argue with you here. Easyjet and Ryanair were presenting statistics in different ways for years, each claiming that they were better - and I have very little faith in the reliability of most of them. Punctuality can be checked, but beyond that, I'm not a fan of them.

If you notice, most complaints on this website are actually due to the customer, not Ryanair. Sometimes you get genuine complaints, but mostly, it's down to the customer's own fault. The aforementioned example of someone turning up with 20 minutes to go, demanding that their bags are put on the plane and that they be allowed to go is a perfect example of where the customer was very wrong.

I wonder if you can write a post without referring to people as stupid or idiots.... :rolleyes: I dread to think what you think of people claiming bank charges (they must have known about them upfront!) or who have been scammed.

Bank charges are/were a disgrace based on the fact that they would often charge people on a charge. They were allowing people to stay in a pile of debt that they couldn't escape from - which is a whole different matter to being charged 40 pounds to print out a boarding pass at the airport.

There's an important distinction in English law I believe - but I'm not familiar with the terms.

I've no sympathy for people that were scammed as a result of their own stupidity, but I have sympathy for people who fell into scams such as those 'winter wonderlands' last Christmas.

People just need to learn the difference between a RIPOFF SCAM (that usually isn't) and a genuine scam.

drewscott

ceebeeby wrote: »

I'm also a Ryanair fan ... have flown with them about 20 flights in about past year, 4 with Virgin, dozen with BA, couple with Easyjet ... Ryanair wins hands-down. No messing, you play by the rules and they'll take you there fast with no fuss (ok, so you have to wear ipod whole journey to drown out the ads but that's okay too - and don't forget your Boots Sarnie Meal Deal before you get on!)

I love them!

Whilst you're grabbing bargain flights and looking at lots of interesting places, maybe you should consider the "actual" cost of flying. Just a thought.