Rez O. Lewshun
Save the Profession
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2004
- Posts
- 13,422
It's neither a threat nor particularly new. Ryanair has been charging for everything for years, and the rest of the world is following. International flights have long had "duty free" shopping on board, and the "home delivery option" has for years been known as "Skymall". Bring your own food and don't buy overpriced crap if you don't like it (always good advice anyway).
Nice.... but I maintain it is a threat.....
And you mentioned Ryan Air in Europe...
Now I've heard that some pilots think Ryan Air is a good place to work.. an opportunity perhaps for US pilots looking for work....
Ryan Air sells incredibly cheap tickets. O'leary makes his money selling ancillary services and products like wheelchair requests, food, products, baggage, etc...
Ryan Air is a transnational airline. It has operating certificates in one country and labor based in a different country. So it finds the country with cheapest laws for its certificate and labor.
Imagine as a US pilot flying for a Mexican airline that has an operating certificate from Trinidad/Tabago and a crew base in Aruba. What labor law do you fall under? As a US pilot can you image trying to enforce gov't law or a union contract in Aruba? Or is it Trinidad because that is where the certificate is.. or is it Mexico because that is where the corporate headquarters is....
Back to the main issue.....
First.... Ryan treats its pilots like Mesa does. The Ryan/Mesa model is what the global start ups are copying... not SWA...... Many pilots at Ryan air are "indentured Servants" because they are so deep in debt.. they can't afford to quit working and look for another 'career'.... Sound familiar Mr. Regional Jet Pilot?
But just as important... since Ryan Air and now other airlines are making money from ancillary sales... the airline ticket is not the primary revenue source....
If you think airline management doesn't give a damm about us now... wait till we are no longer the primary generator of revenue.... How will management view all the cost of safety, training, mx, etc when they realize that there is no money there... They will want to dump money into marketing schemes to sell stuff..
Of course one has to consider how management thinks... not how we think....
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