Ryanair carries more 'posh people' than BA

ynot2005

budget airline ryanair passenger profile for the last 6 months included a greater a greater proportion of abc1 passengers than british airways an independant survey has revealed

the survey was commissioned by inflight media company inviseomedia and carried out by icd research.Based upon a sample of 1000 uk adults, icd's research reveals that 59% of ryanairs passengers were from the top three social grades compared to 52% for BA

the latest research compliments other quantitive data from respected sources such as TGI,EMS and the civil aviation authority, all of whom confirm ryanairs passeneger profile as being one of the best in the aviation industry. it rubbishes the perception that ryanair only carries budget passengers.

its always struck me odd despite the comments on this forum that travellers wouldnt touch ryanair with a bargepole and wouldnt lower themselves to travel with ryanair the flights were always full of well to do passengers

richardw

It is 'Daily Telegraph' ladies going to their second homes, and hubby goes to work, never see them buy anything on the plane though, so they don't contribute that much to additional revenue streams.

Barcode

I don't really care about the social class of the person next to me on the plane. These days, cheap flights are a-plenty, and it sometimes makes sense for those of us living closer to regional airports to take EasyJet etc.

The reasons I avoid Ryanair include (a) cramped conditions (b) safety (I don't want to say too much about this as it'll just lead to an unecessary debate) (c) the company's treatment of its staff (d) the sell-sell-sell mentality on board - you cannot read a book for more than five minutes without being asked to buy a scratchcard and (e) the lack of protection if your flight is cancelled, delayed etc - you always see morons on 'Airline' thinking budget airlines are obliged to put them up in a hotel for the night when something goes wrong. You pay silly prices, then you take your own risks.

dmg24

(a) cramped conditions

Care to elaborate? I find Ryanair no more cramped than any other carrier.

(b) safety (I don't want to say too much about this as it'll just lead to an unecessary debate)

No, come on, tell us ...

(d) the sell-sell-sell mentality on board - you cannot read a book for more than five minutes without being asked to buy a scratchcard

What do you expect when you have only paid 1p for the flight?!!!

Sola

I recently flew Ryanair and it was fine - no more cramped than other flights I've been on, I ignored the scratchcard stuff and trollies, and found the cabin-crew really nice.

Barcode

(a) It's just a personal preference, but I don't like (if I'm flying on my own) having somebody next to me. On most other airlines, I can choose my seat, and often, I've managed to avoid this (as a very regular flyer on Swiss for years, they more often than not accomodated my request). This is just my personal preference, and on a short-haul flight it's really unlikely to make a difference to many people. I usually get an exit row seat if I'm flying economy, but with Ryanair, it seems to be hit and miss.

(b) No. I don't want to elaborate. It's a contentious issue. Obviously, they have met certain minimum standards since they can fly in Europe. But I think their company culture is one in which mistakes have more potential to occur. I'll leave it at that.

(c) I don't expect anything difference. It's just my personal preference that I don't like it, so I'll go elsewhere.

dmg24

I fly Ryanair regularly, and as a single traveller, always manage to get a spare seat next to me, if not a row to myself. Furthermore, if I have purchased Priority Boarding, I have always got an exit row seat (and this is the only time I have sat next to anyone). However, on flying with endless other airlines, including 'premium' airlines, such as Virgin and Emirates, I have had to sit next to people.

Unless you are an aviation specialist and you are able to back up your comments with fact, then your comments on safety simply amount to scaremongering.

Whilst it is of course your right to choose to fly with whomever you choose, implying that an airline has safety issues is potentially libellous.

Ryanair enable many people to take journeys that would otherwise be financially impossible, and many people who have taken advantage of 1p and £10 flight offers that they have found through this website are first time flyers. It is not fair of you to scare them into thinking that they are not going to be safe on their flight.

Barcode

On (a), I've stated this is my personal preference. I don't see the problem.

I'm sorry you feel a need to be heavy-handed on the safety issue. Like other posters, I am entitled to post an opinion on the issue. If you want facts, I'm happy to supply several incidents where their company culture has been conducive to mistakes (that the pax did not know about). But presumably, that would scare people from boarding. If I did get into a discussion about this, I have a suspicion such things would be dismissed as fiction.

Barcode

FYI, I can think of several incidents involving dangerous approaches. A contributing factor was that the pilot(s) involved were concerned that they would not meet the 25 minute turn around time. On the face of it, it seems rather silly that a skilled pilot would make a potentially serious error. But there is immense pressure in the company to meet such targets. The pilots themselves have raised concerns which has resulted in a dispute.

I am not imagining these incidents, and will supply the dates, location etc if required.

lapat

id like to see the safety evidence as i fly with them tommorrow evening

and im a frquent flyer even though this is the first time with ryanair so i will judge the other points you have mentioned on the forum on my return

Barcode

Two preliminary points: (a) it is not my intention to scare anybody. You are extremely likely to get from A to B without incident and (b) this is my *own* view based on said incidents. If somebody is going to insult me, or accuse me of unfairly bashing ryanair (when the problem isn't unique to them), then I'm not interested in carrying on the debate. I'd hope it's a civilized discussion. Those points out the way, here are some facts:

(1) Sept 2005. A pilot had a mental breakdown during a descent in turbulent conditions to Rome. The co-pilot had to take control. The pilot involved had buried his child a few days before. This begs the question of why he was deemed mentally fit to fly (even if he didn't inform the airline, that seems irresponsible behaviour given his state of mind).

(2) June 4th, 2006. Stanstead to Cork. The pilot flew too close to the ground triggering a ground proximity warning. In attempting to correct the mistake, he exceeded the design limits of the aircraft. Said pilot was demoted.

(3) March 2003 (date unspecified). Plane narrowly avoids crashing at Knock after the airline failed to inform pilots in a timely fashion of a change in approach. Ryanair does not report the incident for two weeks and was discovered to have deleted some information about it in the meantime.

(4) July 2005 (date unspecified). Plane makes a dangerously steep approach to Stockholm, Skavasta airport, touched down too fast, and with the wrong settings.

(5) Feb 6th, 2006. Plane overshoots runway in icy conditions at Arhus, Denmark. Granted, this is not *that* serious. It just has me wondering given the number of them in two years.

(6) A more minor incident involved a 737 landing at an RAF base instead of an airport. I don't know what the pilot was smoking given he must have spoken to ATC during descent.

There are more incidents. I am not claiming the *plane* itself is unsafe, i.e., maintenance since there are certain minimal standards. I do, however, think there company culture with immense pressure on pilots to work very long hours with 25 minute turn around times is not conducive to safety. Other airlines, such as ValuJet (now Airtran, and much improved), have had crashes because of poor cockpit resource management. It's also not a low-cost issue. Southwest, for example, are one of the better low-costs out there.

Now, I am fairly sure you will be fine. And I am not specifically singling out Ryanair. These sort of problems exist in other companies. I understand others might have a different interpretation of said incidents, and that's fine. But please don't insult me personally for pointing them out.