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Passengers protest in Ryanair plane
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Furious Ryanair passengers protest in plane – Wed Nov 17, 3:50 am ET BRUSSELS (AFP) – More than 100 angry Ryanair passengers sat in a dark cabin without food or water for four hours Wednesday, refusing to leave their plane after it was diverted to Belgium, authorities and passengers said. The passengers, mostly French tourists who were supposed to land near Paris after returning from holidays in Morocco, refused to come out of the aircraft even after the crew had left it at the Liege airport in southern Belgium. Reda Yahiyaoui, a business owner who was travelling with his wife, a two-month-old baby and a three-year-old, said the passengers had no water and the toilets in the plane were locked. "The pilot left and he even left the cockpit door open," he said. After several hours of negotiations with furious passengers, officials convinced them to leave the plane and wait inside the airport for buses that would take them to their original destination, a firefighter told AFP. "The negotiation was so difficult that we weren't sure they would come out," the firefighter said by telephone. "People are obviously outraged. I'm just trying to look out for their well-being," he said. Passengers on the plane told AFP that the flight had left Fes, Morocco, three hours late at 7:15 pm local time on Tuesday but had been unable to land in Beauvais, France, because by that time the airport there had closed. The plane landed in Liege at around 11:30 pm and passengers only agreed to come out after 3:30 am the next morning. "This is unacceptable," Mylene Netange, who runs a network on social responsibility for business leaders, told AFP. "The plane didn't land in Beauvais but in Liege without warning us. Consequently, we refused to leave the plane," she said. A Ryanair spokesperson was not immediately reachable for comment. Typical, departing for an airport that will be closed w/o telling the passengers until they arrive. Not that Ryanair is the only company guilty of this, sadly. |
Pretty cruddy to leave knowing the airport was closed.
Stupidity on part of the pax for waiting 3 hours on the plane. How long was the bus ride? Instead of "suffering" they could have been to their destination. |
Lately I'm getting really tired of hearing about people acting like childish morons in airports/on airplanes just to prove points, and in turn just making their own lives more difficult, and then expecting us to feel sorry for them. The media needs to stop giving them attention, plain and simple.
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Originally Posted by Super27
(Post 902854)
Lately I'm getting really tired of hearing about people acting like childish morons in airports/on airplanes just to prove points, and in turn just making their own lives more difficult, and then expecting us to feel sorry for them. The media needs to stop giving them attention, plain and simple.
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The crew departed Fes with the optimism or reaching Beauvais before curfew. But alas it did not happen.
There are a number of countries beyond the European borders, even with a delays, will not allow passengers to deplane, and return through immigration back into their country. Same holds true for those passengers who have gone through airport security. So is the alternative to have passengers sit on the Jet without free food or water in Fes until 03:00? Not a prayer. Yes… Beauvais, a neighborhood friendly airport after hours, which is some one hour from Paris, closes its doors rather early. Sometimes Beauvais can be coaxed into staying open a bit after their normal closing times. However this was not the case. Perhaps with direct routing and help from Paris Control, perhaps the flight could have reached Beauvais before curfew. But alas... the controllers that control the airspace around CDG are not the most cooperative nor sympathetic. With that being said, Ryanair made necessary arrangements to have passengers bused to Beauvais. Passengers expect the skipper divert to Orly or CDG. Like in the US, one does not show up unannounced without ground handling, legal issues, as well as customs and immigration arranged… especially in France. Now as for the situation in Liege... if maintenance is present at all times while the APU is running, and cabin crew are on board the aircraft, then the front end crew is not required to be on board. If there is a GPU then Mx, does not need to be nearby nor Pilots need to be onboard. Now with the exception of the alleged abandonment of the aircraft, the pilots, did what they trained to do… divert to their alternate airport, which was Liege. The crew will be dealt with accordingly if they did abandon their aircraft and left it unsecured, in the dark, with no power on the jet or emergency exit lights illuminated for that matter. I'm sure there's more to the story than what's being reported. |
Originally Posted by AKASHA
(Post 902885)
It was a matter of principle for the passengers. The plane leaves 3 hours late and lands in a neighboring country... then supposed to take a bus to their destination? And you rip the passengers? I don't get it.
Why would anyone stay on a plane for three hours in order to protest? Why not get your butt on a bus and get home? If they did not have buses, I'm sure the airline would have given hotel rooms. There have been several times that we have not reached our destination and diverted to an alternate (due to wx). We either had buses take the pax to their destination, gave them hotels, or rescheduled them on later flights. Sure, some people were upset, but never refused to leave the aircraft! Personally, I think the pilots should have cranked the heat on high and see how long it took for the pax to say they wanted to leave. |
Originally Posted by Lowlevel
(Post 903187)
What don't you get? The passengers would have complained if the flight canceled. The crew tried to make the pax happy by completing the flight, but could not make it to the destination before the airport closed. They diverted to the alternate airport and had transportation arranged for the passengers.
Why would anyone stay on a plane for three hours in order to protest? Why not get your butt on a bus and get home? If they did not have buses, I'm sure the airline would have given hotel rooms. There have been several times that we have not reached our destination and diverted to an alternate (due to wx). We either had buses take the pax to their destination, gave them hotels, or rescheduled them on later flights. Sure, some people were upset, but never refused to leave the aircraft! Personally, I think the pilots should have cranked the heat on high and see how long it took for the pax to say they wanted to leave. Its THEIR JOB AND RESPONSIBILITY to arrange transportation for the passengers! Patting yourself on the back for this? For as long as the airline idustry continues this attitude toward the customer, my job security increases. |
Why's that. . . you drive a bus mate?
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Originally Posted by AKASHA
(Post 903309)
Obviously the pax would have complained if the fight cancelled. But I'm quite sure they would have got off the plane.:rolleyes:
Its THEIR JOB AND RESPONSIBILITY to arrange transportation for the passengers! Patting yourself on the back for this? For as long as the airline idustry continues this attitude toward the customer, my job security increases. Well done boys and girls... have one on me. |
Sounds like we have some real customer service oriented crews in here... I know we all take great pride in the fact that we drive big pieces of metal really fast at 38,000 feet but the reality is this is still a market driven job driven by CUSTOMERS. The pilots and flight attendants should be doing everything they can to accommodate those passengers to the best of their abilities, not just enough to keep your job. Put yourself into the passenger's shoes. 100 people would not have protested like that if they had been properly notified and made aware that there was nothing the crew could do. It was Ryanair after all. Is it unfair of me to presume the customer service was likely less than satisfactory? My company circulates letters all the time sent by passengers on terrible flights that were made comfortable by the professionalism and helpfulness of the crews involved. You are a pilot when the plane is in the air and a customer service rep when it's on the ground. If you don't believe that then make yourself comfortable wherever you're working now. You're not going to stand out in your next interview.
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