Originally Posted by
NickB
I think that those two sentences side-by-side exemplify the point I was making. You have no direct experience, let alone recent experience, but you rely on hearsay to form very firm views as if you had an intimate knowledge of the subject-matter. I would suggest that a more measured assessment would perhaps be called for when one has limited knowledge of what one is talking about.
The question is not whether Ryanair needs to be "excused" from anything but rather whether there is that huge gap between Ryanair on the one hand and full service airlines on the other that you post was premised on. I took BA as an illustration of the misconception that,. it seems to me, underlies your post, based on what looks to me like an archaic view of the low-cost and full-service airline sectors, at least as far as the European airline industry is concerned.
You want there to be a big bright line between the two. That bright line simply does not exist any more in Europe. There is a continuum. If you want to say that Ryanair is towards the lower end of the spectrum, you will not find me disagreeing much.
But you make a rather more extreme claim of Ryanair being in a class of its own in terms of customer service, employee relations, etc... and I do not think that there is much evidence to support such an extreme claim.
There are a number of things that do distinguish Ryanair distinctly from its competitors and put it squarely at the bottom of the heap in many categories.
EasyJet, Wizz, Eurowings and of course all the legacy airlines have telephone customer service which Ryanair does not.
Ryanair still engages in outrageous employment schemes and has such bad labor relations that major pension funds will no longer hold their stock.
Ryanair to employ German-based pilots through Dublin firm
Seven European pension schemes ditch Ryanair stock
Ryanair closes Denmark operation to head off union row
Ryanair contract practice ‘a threat to safety’
In fact their practices are sufficiently suspect, not to mention morally corrupt, that they have placed their own pilots in legal jeopardy.
The Ryanair Contactor Employment Model
Prosecutors raid Ryanair staff rooms at 6 German airports
German Prosecutors Conduct Searches in Ryanair Offices in Six Airports
Ryanair bases raided by German tax authorities
German Ryanair Bases and Pilot Homes Raided
Can you imagine working for a major company with practices so corrupt that you end up getting your home raided because of it?
There are many reports of them treating customers not only with disregard, but with literally punitive measures. Here are a few examples.
Hundreds come forward to complain about Ryanair seat allocation
Is Ryanair deliberately splitting up passengers who refuse to pay for seat selection?
Ryanair denies deliberately separating passengers to make money
Ryanair seating policy
Ryanair accused of deliberately assigning middle seats to passengers who don't pay reservation fee
They continue their dishonest and deceptive practice of calling airports the names of cities that they are nowhere near, such as "Dusseldorf-Weeze" and "Frankfurt-Hahn". They can fly to these airports all they want, but they are blatantly deceptive about their actual nature and location.
I have not been able to find any indication that they have improved their reserve fuel practices. If you can provide such an indication I would be happy to see it as I certainly don't wish disaster on the passengers of any airline.
Now, I can't definitively claim that Ryanair is "in a class of its own" and I never did. I claimed that they are "a horrible company that treats its customers, its employees, safety, and the law with utter contempt" and I stand by that statement.
Honestly, I think that anybody who chooses to fly with Ryanair implicitly endorses their practices and that potential customers should consider this before booking.
Originally Posted by
NickB
OK: do tell us, then: how many flights on LCCs have you taken in Europe in the last 6 months and on which routes and how many of these were rammed with bachelor parties?
I've taken about 20 LCC flights in that time frame, almost all ex-DUS. Most to Eastern Europe but a good handful elsewhere such as UK, Switzerland, and more. I've had at least 5 very disruptive bachelor parties on those flights. Maybe the timing is the problem as I often fly outbound on Saturdays or maybe, like I said, it's just bad luck. Fingers crossed it'll change. That said I've never experienced this problem even one time on a legacy carrier on any continent.
All this said, it's all anecdotal and I can only account for my own experiences. Even if I were to list every flight and my observations that really isn't statistically meaningful, however I think it's pretty widely accepted that there is a general difference in the type of passenger between LCCs and legacy carriers, although it can certainly be route and schedule dependent.