Budget Travel - does RyanAir seem like an angry, angry company to you?

I have never myself flown with RyanAir (have flown easyJet), but I've read about them with interest over the years because they seem to generate immediate and strong reactions from many people, and for the remarkable success of the low cost phenomenon (like Walmart).

But the main comparison I now come away with, is that this airline seems to be like a person who hates his/her job. I feel as if RyanAir is some sort of surly cashier at the grocery store, who personally hates each customer for coming in and buying something and generating more work that has to be done. Like as soon as someone walks in, they say, "goddamn it, another @#$@! customer".

Do you get this feeling that RyanAir hates life? I mention it now because of the recent news about more baggage charges and check-in fees: http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&ie=UTF-8&ncl=1126785802
I mean, I know it's about cost cutting and all, but it also seems like they would just rather never have to deal with actual people. I think RyanAir would be happier if pax organized themselves into self-contained pods and they only had to load and transport the pods. But maybe that's true of most airlines at heart...

O'Leary is permanently angry, he hates everything and everybody that comes between him and profit

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Thanks..
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

To me easyJet and Ryanair are worlds apart. I don't mind flying easyJet as they are in my opinion one of the better low cost airlines.

Ryanair have re-defined the word 'cheap' and 'tacky'. I do fly with Ryanair and don't mind admitting I hate the experience but they are very cheap. I don't ever pay more than £1 plus taxes to fly them however - where fares are more than this I always choose a different carrier. Ryanair finds new lows and exploits them.

As for O'Leary, yes, he is just one angry man, period. He will upset anyone and it just doesn't bother him. I don't even think it stops with profit - I imagine he hates his own family as much as the nuisances that pay to fly his airline.

It's kind of amazing how a company of so many people can acquire the personality of the guy running it.

I've come across lots of very nice and incredibly helpful and sympathetic Ryanair staff who don't reflect Mr O'Leary's perceived personality (http://www.jrj-socrates.com/Cartoon%20Pics/Nick%20Toons/Spongebob%20Squarepants/Mr_Crab_300_CLR.gif) in any way.

Before Ryanair and Easyjet came onto the scene I needed to use mainly charter flights and Iberia in order to see friends and family in Europe.

I never noticed a drop in standards when jumping ship to Ryanair flights - quite the contrary, and long 4 hour plus delays and being bumped and having my luggage go missing are now, happily, very much the exception rather than the rule.

I'm not comparing Ryanair with British Airways or BMI as I could never afford to fly with them (or, when I could, their mid-day schedules didn't suit me) - but compared to grueling bus rides and never-ending waits for the Dan-Air flight to depart, flying with Ryanair was a pleasure. And it's been many years since I flew with Iberia, switching to FR feels like a permanent upgrade, and one I'm still tickled pink about having had the opportunity to make.

Sure, I prefer Easyjet to Ryanair (just like I prefer Air Berlin to Easyjet), but I much prefer Ryanair to the surly or undependable airlines and tedious modes of travel which this company replaced in my own life.

Budget travel was once really, really grim - worst part about travelling in Europe now is the security measures. I'm not sure if I think RyanAir would be happier if pax organized themselves into self-contained pods and they only had to load and transport the pods - it's the government authorities who seem to be directing a simmering, seething, resentful, barely contained anger towards their citizens for choosing to travel overseas.

Hear hear


I've come across lots of very nice and incredibly helpful and sympathetic Ryanair staff who don't reflect Mr O'Leary's perceived personality (http://www.jrj-socrates.com/Cartoon%20Pics/Nick%20Toons/Spongebob%20Squarepants/Mr_Crab_300_CLR.gif) in any way.

Before Ryanair and Easyjet came onto the scene I needed to use mainly charter flights and Iberia in order to see friends and family in Europe.

I never noticed a drop in standards when jumping ship to Ryanair flights - quite the contrary, and long 4 hour plus delays and being bumped and having my luggage go missing are now, happily, very much the exception rather than the rule.

I'm not comparing Ryanair with British Airways or BMI as I could never afford to fly with them (or, when I could, their mid-day schedules didn't suit me) - but compared to grueling bus rides and never-ending waits for the Dan-Air flight to depart, flying with Ryanair was a pleasure. And it's been many years since I flew with Iberia, switching to FR feels like a permanent upgrade, and one I'm still tickled pink about having had the opportunity to make.

Sure, I prefer Easyjet to Ryanair (just like I prefer Air Berlin to Easyjet), but I much prefer Ryanair to the surly or undependable airlines and tedious modes of travel which this company replaced in my own life.

Budget travel was once really, really grim - worst part about travelling in Europe now is the security measures. I'm not sure if I think RyanAir would be happier if pax organized themselves into self-contained pods and they only had to load and transport the pods - it's the government authorities who seem to be directing a simmering, seething, resentful, barely contained anger towards their citizens for choosing to travel overseas.

Do you get this feeling that RyanAir hates life? I mention it now because of the recent news about more baggage charges and check-in fees: http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&ie=UTF-8&ncl=1126785802
I mean, I know it's about cost cutting and all, but it also seems like they would just rather never have to deal with actual people....
It's a smart business model which works so long as the market for cheap air travel keeps expanding, ie. more and more ordinary pax who believe the headline fares and don't calculate the door-to-door cost.

Ryanair is hoist with its own ' no fuel supplements' petard so has to keep increasing the ancillary fees.

When people's disposable income shrinks (this year?) there may be more awareness of the total cost of a Ryanair bargain fare stimulated by fare comparison websites

[QUOTE=neilyork;9127619]To me easyJet and Ryanair are worlds apart. I don't mind flying easyJet as they are in my opinion one of the better low cost airlines.

Ryanair have re-defined the word 'cheap' and 'tacky'. I do fly with Ryanair and don't mind admitting I hate the experience but they are very cheap. I don't ever pay more than £1 plus taxes to fly them however - where fares are more than this I always choose a different carrier. Ryanair finds new lows and exploits them.

As for O'Leary, yes, he is just one angry man, period. He will upset anyone and it just doesn't bother him. I don't even think it stops with profit - I imagine he hates his own family as much as the nuisances that pay to fly his airline.[/QUOTE

I agree - Easyjet is much better. Ryan is saying you pay nothing you get nothing.

Ryanair and Customer Care

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/transport/article3315495.ece

I also saw this

http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,,2252926,00.html

Sounds just as much like angry, angry passengers to me. The so called psychology expert had a bit of an axe to grind.

Did you see the band members on TV? Most of their criticism was for the busy body 'lecturer' who was the real terrorist in their experience of their ordeal.

Hopefully, if he is indeed at a University, he is getting ribbed rotten there.

Given the way the captain acted you wonder if he was more scared of what Ryanair would do to him than be made a fool in public

The attitude of the employer directly affects the attitude of the employees.

The attitude of the employer directly affects the attitude of the employees.

I couldn't agree more...I have seen these at many different companies over the years and it's really unfortunate.

Ryanair runs on a very fine business line and the shares have droppped a lot due to the fact the look like have a very rough ride ahead of them soon so more cost cutting is needed to maintain profit

That's true. You have to lead by example!