No Frills, No-profit: Ryanair

[atrdriver]

And, looking at their supposed compensation for pilots doesn't tell the whole story. They don't make that until some unspecified time in their employment, they have to pay for their type rating at an inflated cost, and there are all kinds of strange deductions from their paychecks. They also fire people from Ryanair for charging their cellphones in the airport. The pilots there are afraid to speak out, but there are ways of fining out this stuff.

I hope they don't get a foothold here in the US.

I don't know about the deductions and work rules, but $179,000 doesn't seem too bad for a 5 year 73 captain. And while they don't care where you get it, SWA also requires you to buy your own type.

 

[GogglesPisano]

Ryanair. Good.
I've flwon about 30 flights with Ryanair. Most flights are 1-2 hours because Europe is tiny. I like to think of Europe as another state, kind of like Texas. They don't like that I consider them a US state.

Back on point: Ryanair seats are plastic pieces of crap. Some of the flight attendants are only moderately attractive. The airports they use are usually like an hour or two drive from the city they supposedly fly to. So add on another $15 each way for bus tranportation to and from the airport.

Flights have cost me anywhere from $1 to $150. Time is crititcal. Book in advance. If you book late, they will severely punish you with fees.

I showed up 3 minutes late once. The check-in gate was closed, and I had to buy a new ticket. They are strict. Be on-time. Rules are very specific and you better adhere or buy a new ticket.

Flights takeoff on time and usually land early. I've landed late only once or twice.

They never lose bags. All flights are point to point. No transfers.

All in all, Ryanair is awesome. I wish we had something like that in the states. I almost bought a ticket last month to fly to a different state...the cost would have been around $700. I couldn't do it, not after flying Ryanair internationally for $20 a flight. US airlines suck.

Yeah you get a crappy seat, have to be on time (well check-in is 30-35 minutes before takeoff, so that's not so bad at all), and fly into weird airports outside of the city, but the cost is sooo low that it is totally worth it to me.

We're talking about one hour on the flight, and an hour on a bus. You usually can spread out on the bus. That's worth the savings.

Needless to say you are writing this from a cost-conscious passenger perspective, not a career pilot perspective.

 

[skydiverdriver2]

Yes, they have some things in common with SWA, but they are not like them. You do have to buy your own type at Ryanair, but they take forever, and you don't get full pay until some unspecified point. I hope the money is not the only thing you care about! Would you take a million dollars to crash a plane? I wouldn't.

I just wonder if the Ryan family trashed the place, or was it the guy who owns them now? I personally wouldn't want to work somewhere where they change your contract terms with a memo, and fire people for drinking water off the plane. They fire them for charging cellphones in the airport, too. It doesn't sound like their service is very good. I hope we don't get anything like that in the US, but we may since that is what the public seems to want.

 

[kingsize]

Needless to say you are writing this from a cost-conscious passenger perspective, not a career pilot perspective.

yes, true.

I looked at their website last year, checking out the pilot hiring process and pay. It seemed pretty decent. You takeoff and land at your home airport every day you fly, so no overnighters anywhere. You fly 3 or 4 on, then 3 or 4 days off. I remember the pay seemed fairly decent. Other than that, I have no idea of the pilot perspective. If it is anything like what other folks on here have said, it is horrible and unfriendly to employees. That would make it a no-go for me as a potential employer.

I just read through the thread again...someone made the comment that ryanair passengers shouldn't complain if their bags get lost in Bermuda because they'd be getting what they paid for.

Actually, you'll probably never have lost baggage with ryanair, and it is very unlikely to end up somewhere else.

One of the reasons Ryanair does so well and has such cheap flights is that they do point to point flights, so if you have a multi-leg flight, you need to retrieve your luggage at each stop and re-check it before the next flight. It takes more work on your part, but again, that's why the flights are so cheap. In other words, close to zero lost baggage, so that's the upside. They probably have close to the lowest lost baggage rate of any midsize or large airline in the world.