Sunset view looking at a Ryanair winglet over the Canary Islands
If you read the blog often you know I have a fascination with Ryanair. Well I think most people who follow the airline industry have a fascination with Ryanair. As American travelers complain about fees, yet still pay them, I think Ryanair might show a glimpse of the future if passengers keep demanding the lowest price possible. Ryanair is known for their cheap prices, tons of fees and a total lack of customer service.
Recently Ryanair showed their customer service skills by stranding passengers at the wrong destination.
Eager passengers were on a flight from the UK to Lanzarote in the Canary Islands when it was diverted to Fuerteventura (about 30 miles away) due to weather. Even though airlines have no legal obligations to pay for costs related to weather, most make accommodations for customers in this situation due to this thing called “customer service.”
Instead, Ryanair booted off the passengers, fueled up and took off, leaving passengers on their own. Since there was no staff at the airport, there was little chance to get help. Of course, they could have tried to fight it out on the phone, but Ryanair charges by the minute to talk to a customer service representative.
Do I feel bad for these travelers? A little bit, I mean they lost a day of their vacation, had to get a hotel room, but flying on Ryanair is always a gamble. The old saying “you get what you pay for,” is quite accurate with Ryanair.
UPDATE 3/18/10: I just received an email from Stephen McNamara, head of communications for Ryanair who states the airline did provide ferry service to the passengers destinations. More can be found here.
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Image: GanMed64
As a frequent flyer with Ryanair, I can assure you it’s not at all a gamble. With the most modern fleet of B737-800’s and more than 1,000 routes, reliability and punctuality is probably the best in Europe. The 41st base will shortly open in Malta. Having made more than 300 round trips from Scotland to Scandinavia and Eastern Europe in the last year or two, I have been delayed just the once by 90 minutes on a flight to Oslo. And I have never paid more than £37 ($55)– usually much cheaper taking advantage of the special offers and limiting myself to 10 kg hand baggage and no travel insurance. The fees are very straightforward, more so than many other airlines, and can be seen at http://www.ryanair.com/en/questions/table-of-fees Lastly, online booking is completely transparent.
[…] given some sort of information on their options, but the passengers vehemently deny this. Well, as AirlineReporter blogger David Parker Brown says, flying on Ryanair is always a gamble, and adds, ”The old […]
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