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HALF OF PEOPLE would still fly with Ryanair despite the airline cancelling up to 50 flights a day over the next six weeks.
In a poll carried out by Ámarach Research for Claire Byrne Live and TheJournal.ie, 50% of people said recent developments wouldn’t stop them from booking flights with the budget airline.
Of the more than 1,000 adults polled, 29% said they wouldn’t buy flights with Ryanair due to the cancellations, while 21% were unsure.
Earlier today Ryanair published a list of the upcoming flights it has cancelled.
Speaking at a press conference, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary apologised to customers affected by the airline’s decision.
“This is a mess of our own making. I apologise sincerely to all our customers for any worry or concern this has caused them over the past weekend.
“We have only taken this decision to cancel this small proportion of our 2,500 daily flights so that we can provide extra standby cover and protect the punctuality of the 98% of flights that will be unaffected by these cancellations,” O’Leary said.
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Ryanair is an amazing airline that has opened the sky too cheap travel fair play too MOL and Ryanair .I’ve never had a problem flying with them and got me around Europe for nothing .
@dangermouse: it’s capitalism at it’s best and it’s why capitalism works. When airlines were owned by governments, flights were extortionate.
@dangermouse: not so amazing for their employees , Norwegian airline poached over 100 of their pilots, looks like the non-union airline treatment of its employees could see a lot of defections .
@dangermouse: You obviously haven’t booked to fly with them over the next six weeks….
@Dáithí Ó Raghallaigh: Norweigan don’t allow Unionisation either Dáithí. It’s why they were being protested so viciously by American unions, they were worried about a non union operator forcing standards down in the US.
My understanding is that long haul flying generally is more prestigious and comes with better terms though.
@Michael Geraghty: It works? Haha! They dump prices until competitors go bust, then governments pick up the shards. airBerlin.
@dangermouse: cheap airlines come and go all the time. Hope they don’t destroy too much in their path..
If we didn’t have Mick O Leary and Co we’d all be still paying £500 or more for a flight to London.
Cheap and Cheerful and on time can’t beat it
@Bob Murphy: No we wouldn’t. Ryanair, easyJet and now Norwegian etc. came about due to the deregulation of Europe’s airways.
@Bob Murphy: no we wouldn’t. Fu(k o Leary and fu(k Ryanair.
Disgraceful company
@Bob Murphy: You must’ve regularly flown business class. Today there are many alternatives to Ryanair, if you’re willing to put the time in on the Internet…
@Paul Linehan: There are alternatives to Ryanair because of Ryanair. They changed the game. What would state owned monopolies have done after the deregulation of Europe’s airways? Nothing! Many of them did just that and collapsed!
Say it was £200 return to London in 1985 (which was a actually a pretty decent fare for the time). That’s €254. Adjusted for inflation, that’s €513. I paid €60 last December for a return flight to London.
@Richard: first deregulation changed the skies. Second one paid over 300 euro for two return tickets to Amsterdam this weekend and I have no guarantee that either flight will be available. I would have been better off paying that bit extra with klm or aerlingus instead of trusting Ryan air. Now I might have to pay for a hotel that I can’t get to.
@Richard: Now in fairness, which London airport did you fly in to???….. No point in going half way around the world for a short cut, just to save a few Euros!!!
@B9xiRspG: Has Mary Murphy and her cohorts made you an offer yet???…. One would imagine a compensation would be forthcoming seeing it is their idea of a great business ethos, or gung-ho camaraderie has put you in this unfortunate predicament…
@Bob Murphy: People who don’t want to sit with booze drenched holiday makers still book these 500€ flights.
@Bob Murphy:
couldnt agree more..we were ripped off for years by other airlines.retired employees from a certain airline still get Free travel for themselves and their families..
keep up the good work ryanair
…
@B9xiRspG: you had choices, you took the cheap option, looks like it might not work out. Take it on the chin and move along
We’ve travelled loads of times with Ryanair. It’s the only way for our family to be able to afford flying every year to visit grand parents in Sicily. One of my sons has special needs and I cannot remember a single incident where we were treated with anything but kindness and support. It’s a budget airline that has brought healthy competition between airlines and made air travel affordable for normal mortals. I am sorry they have come up against whatever problem has caused this issue, be it lack of pilots, weather systems…whatever. Michael O’Leary will fix it. He’s nothing if not an astute business man. It’s just surprising that, as such, he didn’t see this coming.
@Jackie Caruana: In the main, most people will go out of their way to help those with special needs. Ryanair staff in that regard are no different, and go beyond the call of duty to represent their company to a very high standard….. But please, please don’t think for one minute think that Michael O’Leary gives a continental fcuk about people, whether abled, or disabled. He is a business man and his only concern is that of his business. So If you’ve booked to fly with Ryanair in the next six weeks. Be as worried as the rest of your fellow flyers!!!
@Paul Linehan: i dont think that giving a f**c or not giving one is the issue. He is a buisness man. His aim is to provide something that enough people want, to make him very rich! The company has run into a problem that is preventing that at the moment. He will fix it as quickly and economically for the company as possibly. Not for any altruistic reasons, but for the company coffers. Then hopefully, we should all be able to continue on our way again.
@Jackie Caruana: I see where your loyalties lie. As long as your hero MOL makes money and screws his staff to the point of losing a big chunk of them to a rival company, then that sits well with you. Well imagine being in the same position as the people in Amsterdam, who got a text during their weekend stay informing them their flight home was cancelled (due to Mickies fcuk up)….. I’m sure you would be playing a different tune to the MOL musical chairs game!!!
@Jackie Caruana: based on comments made by MoL yesterday he eluded to the problem as a set up. The pilots are entitled to x amount of holidays under EU law. They seem to have collaborated together and booked annual leave all at the same time in the bid to sell them back to Ryanair for a small fortune. He’s called their bluff by cancelling the flights instead and now there’s chat of getting relief pilots in from Brazil.
@Paul Linehan: and I am a frequent Ryanair passenger and business man. I don’t give a continental Fcuk what MoL thinks of me. I want to get from A to B safely on time and for as cheap as possible. That’s a beautiful business relationship working well.
@Gareth Cooney: I think you’re missing a point there… If you’re flight is cancelled, then number two on your wish list won’t happen!!!
I still. Book
@robbip: You must also get a property investment in Dublin community belt – it will be worth a fortune when you retire !!!
It’s good to get these constant updates. Something tells me that Norwegian air will ultimately pay a bigger price for this in the long run, bring on the vengeful O’Leary.
@Government Sachs: Apparently Norwegian Air already owe millions and are running at a loss!
@sean o’dhubhghaill: do your homework… It’s a start up, almost every start up loses money in year 1 due to various costs, not least the start up costs. You think Ryanair made money in year 1?
I booked a flight to Paris eve with Aer Lingus. Was going to use Ryanair but I’m not taking the chance if they decide to cancel it. Worked out €5 cheaper with Aer Lingus much to my surprise.
@Ciaran Fairley: Impossible, mos of people here will tell you it should be twice more expensive than Ryanai!
Checked prices to Poland with Aer Lingus and Ryanair. Same airport and dates. Aer Lingus 160e cheaper!
I’m delighted for them hopefully a new beginning. I always found it a tragic state of affairs that treating both customers and employees like crap turned out to be a successful business strategy. Good to see it finally caught up with O’Leary, if my holiday was messed up as a result of this i’d happily pay a 30% premium to gaurentee I actually got there next time with another airline. Delivery to your destination was the only thing they could stand over now they don’t even have that.
@Dave time: Dave, you did read the article and understand what’s been going on with this, yes? Or is it just you wanted to get something off your chest?
@Dave time: I don’t know where this notion that Ryanair treats its passengers like crap comes from. They have strict rules, sell seats for half nothing and apply premiums to everything other than the seat you sit in. If you do what they say you should, you breeze through it. I have never had an issue with them and have flown with them dozens of times. The anti-Ryanair vitriol on here is absurd.
@Richard:
EAten bread is soon forgotten
@Richard: Spot on. Well said
@Brown Boots: Sorry Captain brown I assumed you had some background on the situation, also article state 50% of people polled now claim they won’t fly with Ryanair or are unsure if they will as a result. Depite the usual lies the cancelled flights are the results of badly treated employees leaving the company for other airlines such as WOW, Qatar and Norwegian who all treat employees better. Maybe you could elaborate on what part your having difficulty with.
@Richard: random example: okay we’ll start with the current policy, woman and her 12 year old son now book a flight Ryanair they will allocate seats to ensure they are not next to each other to try and manipulate them to buy priority. If you observe around you next time you are on a flight you’ll see there is not enough space for all carry on luggage in the overheads so they force it under your seat in front so you can’t stretch your legs which is both uncomfortable and dangerous. When it comes to employees he mocks them openly does the term “glorified bus drivers” sound familiar? Ground staff, cabin crew and pilots are all treated very badly by company, worst part is the zero hours as O’Leary pushes for all employees to be contractors so if you have a 5-4 roster you might only have 4 hours paid work in nine days, if you have a problem with it “find a new job” , and that’s exactly what a load of them did.
@Richard: blinded by their hatred for the bigger man. They can’t afford to fly because the flight isn’t a free handout from the taxpayer. Can’t understand the rules.
It would be interesting to have a poll of those directly affected by the cancellations.
@Accounting Pro: interesting, but barely relevant in the grand scheme of things
@Gordon Nash: How is it not relevant? Far too many people having a whinge for the sake of it even though they haven’t been impacted. Surely hearing from those actually affected is the most relevant way to gauge the impact?
@Fintan Quinn: are you saying the mob are not entitled to moan?
Each person can make their own decision. Trust or don’t trust.
Lots of people still buy cheap high street products also even though they know the level of exploitation involved.
Doesn’t make it right though.
@Emmet Dillane: We have no shame or conscious – that’s what makes us such a great nation.
50% of the time it works everytime
The half who won’t be travelling because of cancellation. They’d be delighted to make and get a claim from Ryanair.
Sure Mick couldn’t give a rats arse about that half of the people – or the other half either. He doesn’t have to.
Expect to pay.
Don’t expect to fly.
Ryanair- the airline we love to moan about but will nearly always choose … why?
Because it’s cheap- clear and simple- as long as it remains the cheapest in the market and for most of its routes- it is- people (me included) will fly Ryanair- and so what, if I also complain about it’s uncomfortable seats, discourteous staff (less so these days to be honest) and its tendency to herd us like cattle?
Do you really think they give a toss about the latter as long as we keep flying with them? Of course not- bums on seats is all that matters to Ryanair and if those seats are still the cheapest, we will continue to chose to place our bums on them, even if as we do, we complain how uncomfortable they are.
Like a dirty CIE bus in the sky.
But half wouldn’t.
@@mdmak33: so they say for a totally unreliable TV poll… my guess most of that 50% will check Ryanair.com, when they next need to fly to Europe.
@Shane Bradley: I bet they all with check with proper airlines. Might see then that they have been travelling with a crap service that is not cheap
.
“Smart flies Aer Lingus”
Love O Leary, he could pay all the compensation payouts out of a week’s earnings. This nonsense will die down, he’ll then put a sale on of a few million free seats, bury Norwegian Airlines and all will be forgotten. Just hope this nice airline image will cease now, his press conference yesterday was vintage, come back the infamous O Leary we loved.
Surely it would have been cheaper for Ryanair to offer the pilots large financial incentives to forego their annual leave .Everything has a price.
@Aine O Connor: for safety reasons airline pilots cannot exceed certain flying hours per year. It’s not about pay, it’s about safety. Even if safety wasn’t the issue, though, it’s kind of hypocritical of you to suggest one group of workers should forgo their holidays just so others can enjoy theirs.
@Aine O Connor: he’s in the process of doing that but it must be a set up and the pilots are looking for ransom money.
@EillieEs:
Ryanair have now offered €12,000 bonus to pilots to work for at least 10 of their days off , how does that fit in with flying hours.
I’ve only ever had 1 return flight with Ryanair and couldn’t find a fault with them, I would definitely use them again
F*ck Ryanair. I’ve only ever used them as a last resort and just had my flight cancelled. Breaking the law in an attempt to create their own where airlines are concerned. B*llsh*t cowboys! You can call Michael o Leary a great entrepreneur all you like but it’s to the people’s expense and heart ache.
These clowns deserve what they get. You can’t chance imbeciles like these.
Half? Not exactly a ringing endorsement.
Too much Jaw Jaw from Old Big Mouth….
He should knuckle down and run his business
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