Ryanair sits hen party in FIFTEEN separate rows as outrage over seating policy grows

adindas

Forever_blowin_bubbles wrote: »

Let me try to explain, adindas:

I am not primarily complaining about paying £2 or £50. I am observing that by deliberately splitting up groups, likely emergency evacuation times are degraded. It isn't rocket science, so I can easily make the suggestion based on common sense. If it doesn't ring true, just read an article like the one I linked to a while back just to familiarise yourself with the common sense: https://www.wired.com/2008/08/as-your-flight/

Of course you can form your own opinion about what it might mean for you.

In my case, purely because I have been lucky enough to have learned a lot about how and when an aluminium tube flies and what to expect in unusual situations I feel that the evacuation risk to me and anyone travelling with me, is acceptable to me. One of the reasons I can be confident is because forewarned is forearmed. However, I may be being optimistic if the actual degradation is worse than I think.

The thing I think is particularly unlawful is that the 90 second rule in aviation is being deliberately messed with by an airline that deliberately splits up pairs and groups who naturally will panic when there is disorder (because we humans are still subject to nature's tendences as animals when our very lives are threatened).

Splitting up travelling pairs and groups in a 189 seat plane is deliberate disorder.
Very true I am sure, but is there one for trains and automobiles (perhaps there is and we should mind that gap?). But seriously, is not what you propose (if such a statute is what you propose) rather looking at the problem through the wrong end of the telescope? It isn't easy to get an Air Operator's Certificate, and keeping one surely is a question of trust between the regulator and the airline? Isn't it simply inspector teams and enforcers that need beefing up, and not the laws themselves?

Then find a clear statement from authorities, such as from CAA or IAA mentioning it is unsafe not to seat couple, family friends together. Please only from civil aviation authorities and not from non authoritative source or from whingers whose main intention is to avoid £2 per seat for guaranteed seat, people who wanted to take other people with them to maximize impact.

I believe many people who are frequent travelers are also interested to know if there is any safety issue here. If people could find it I fully believe many people, me included will fully support campaign against this policy.

But I really wonder why people who think that a law has been broken why do not you take them to the court or to the regulator. Keep in mind, if you win you might get compensation.

antenna wrote: »

£2 it is not.............you are wrong........here starts the lesson,prepare to be educated...........It is mainly 2 people or more that may want to sit together.......so for a return trip that is At Least £8...........£60 for the hen party.

I said £2 per seat. £60 additional cost for a return ticket of 15 people are cheap, considering many of RA ticket price are already very cheap. So even if you add £2 per seat allocation there is a very good chance that it is still cheaper (if not much cheaper) comparing to other alternatives.

adindas

Forever_blowin_bubbles wrote: »

No it is not as simple as that of course. We live in times of enormous change. There isn't time to legislate for every eventuality or use case. We must rely on something else - upon civility, trust, and good overall intention. We must warn and formally sanction if need be those who work against the basics, whether they be N Korea minded or Trump minded or anything which is reckless and disrespects the expected norms. If the expected norms are no longer civil, trusted or for good intention, then we will all be lost, surely?

No I don't think most people are constantly seeking compo. I certainly am not, as I have explained. I could possibly put in three claims tomorrow to Ryanair and sit back and expect cheques totalling 750€ but I won't. On another topic - pensions - I have actually collected four cheques totalling £250 received like confetti (never asked for) as ex-gratia compensation for wrongdoing by just one of the biggest pension providers in the land. I have no current intention of paying them into the bank - they are still as a provider completely failing in their duty and I shall keep reminding them, but spraying me with petty cash doesn't work.

I guess it does work with some though, and they go away, else the provider wouldn't keep drawing the cheques and posting them will-nilly

As safety is your main concern in this instance, do you still travel with budget airlines such as RA, where people get a random seat seat allocation ?

Also the safety argument here is absurd even with main airlines with pre-allocated seats such as British Airways, Lufthansa, Virgin Atlantic Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, you could still find couple (not you or your family) are not seating next to each other, because they do not check in online and they come very late at check in desk and where the aircraft is almost full leaving only two seats left far from each other. The safety situation you describe still there.

adindas

Forever_blowin_bubbles wrote: »

Let me try explain this yet another way, adindas, as you seem to be struggling to fit what you read to some over simplistic template of the norms of life as we know it. When I buy a Ryanair flight, I am not voting for anything other than buying a service I understand exceptionally well for a short period that gets me from A to B when I want. I am not voting for their overall safety record, or their seat allocation policy. It is not however inconsistent of me if I decide to highlight, either after I experience what happened on my last flight, or before what is likely to happen on the next, what I believe is an unacceptable level of disorder, or likely disorder in an emergency, in the aircraft cabin created by their latest seat allocation policy. By "unacceptable", I mean as in a business practice which should be strongly discouraged. I personally cannot stop it by inconveniencing myself. That I choose not to inconvenience myself before it stops does not make me a hypocrite. As I am not an OFT or CAA or IAA or ICAO enforcer, my best chance of contributing to stopping it is making a song and dance about it somewhere like this as often as I have time to do so.

Your are not right about my argument being absurd, but you are fairly correct about the scenario you describe which occurs as limited one-offs in most full flights. Apart from the opposite end of the plane assertion perhaps. For the airline to be forced to offer that as their best shot would be relatively unusual. Limited one-offs of your example scenario were otherwise always envisaged as part of the very loose FAA 90 second emergency evacuation rule because what you describe is part of the norm. Lufthansa do not deliberately sit any passengers at opposite ends of the aircraft as their rule. They consciously seek to avoid it as far as possible. Indeed on Luftnansa just a few short weeks ago I sat next to a guy who was separated from his wife and child. Actually I had been super clever at checking in late online and for free chosen an aisle seat for my other half, and a window seat for me. I had a cunning plan that no-one would likely go for the middle seat at late notice! The unlucky late late guy got given the middle seat and his wife and child were two rows behind (not at the other end of the aircraft). As it was we still got the extra legroom I had planned, but not the free seat between us. In actual fact I gave him the window seat which put him right next to the emergency exit. How do you think he would have reacted in an emergency?

There is a very big difference between Ryanair's seat allocation and Lufthansa in my experience.,but for whatever reason, you don't seem to want to acknowledge it.

After knowing there is a safety issue (based on what you preach) for people traveling with airlines where couples, friends, family get random seat allocations do you still travel with such airlines ??
Yes or No

adindas

Forever_blowin_bubbles wrote: »

YES!

When I buy a flight I am not voting with my feet about your problem with your safety, adindas. I am however assessing that I am relatively well forearmed about your safety problem if you are between me and the emergency exit and your wife and kids are behind me. I have a good idea how you are going to react and how it will affect me. Question is, do you?

Nah Thank for the honest answer :D:D:D
Let the cat out of the bag !!!

It makes me chuckle when I read the YES answer.

Vast majority of people will not compromise with safety. If they fully believe there is a safety issue here they either cancel their trip, find another alternative or pay whatever it cost within their reasonable mean. Let alone for £2 per seat for guaranteed seat.

People could easily see that some people here are using BS safety argument where in fact all they are trying to do is to avoid £2 fee per seat and try to take people with them to maximize impact.


[FONT=&quot]I think £2 per seat is too petty for people who genuinely concern about safety, I wish RA increased the fee to at least £50 similar to at least the fee for airport check in. [/FONT]

melanzana

Bloody hell.

I bet most of your electric/broadband bills are higher than the cost of a seat with all your huge rants over the internet.

Get some perspective. Honestly.

melanzana

Again, just pay the two pounds and that tiny expense will pay you back in spades.

Otherwise you will be expending a lot of time and angst. It really isn't worth it.

SallySunshine

Different airline, 7 people in a party flying out seated together, coming back 7 totally random seats all over the plane.
This was booked as a complete holiday package.
Weird!

EitherWalnut

I struggle to see why people are getting so hot under the collar about this!

A Ryanair flight is never going to be more than a few hours long. I'm sure the majority of people can deal with being split up from their mate for that long.

It's a shrewd business move and Ryanair is, after all, a business. Anyone else who could see an easy opportunity to make more money out of their business would do the same.

Ryanair is a budget airline so you should expect to pay for extras. Extras include allocated seating. It's all very well saying they should just increase the price of the fare and let everyone choose, but why enforce that on people who are, for example, travelling alone and therefore have no need of an allocated seat? If you are that bothered, give up your in-flight gin and tonic and just pay the £3.

buglawton

Last time I flew Ryanair I had to pay £9 for 2 seat bookings to sit next to OH, not the over-optimistic £2 I've seen mentioned by Ryanair apologists. Fine, so next time I'll mentally factor in an extra £18 for the round trip when comparing with Easyjet, Wizzair et al.

What I can't control however is the fact that the rest of the plane will have had all groups and couples split up by a large distance. A very unsafe situation in an emergency.

Rainbowgirl84

I'm not convinced that seating 15 drunken hens in a bloc on a plane in the event of an evacuation is safer than having them spread out.