Passengers protest in Ryanair plane
 

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The 'crew' left the aircraft and the bathrooms were locked? Does the 'crew' include the FA's?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Why's that. . . you drive a bus mate?

No its not the crews job to set up transportation for the pax... and yes I would have been patting myself for a job well done.. as I sip a beer in the hotel while those idiot pax were still sitting on a plane with locked bathrooms.. ha ha ha total idiots.

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.

You're spot on here. I don't know what you do but I'm sure you're right about your job security. Airlines have degraded in the last 9 years or so because the crews/agents take out their frustrations over the industry and job cuts on the passengers. You'd like to believe that a job that holds such high regard for professionalism would promote going above and beyond your normal duties to help out the passengers when the situation calls for it. Clearly we have some people here that feel it's them vs. the passengers. And inevitably it's those people that bring a business down.

Yes it is. The airline culture of a low cost carrier ala Ryanair is far different than that of the LCC you, perhaps are affiliated with. Rest assured that FR was aware that the flight would not arrive at the intended destination before curfew, and ground transportation was notified. However one does not waive a magic wand and buses appear. That's not the way it happens. While, rare, it is not uncommon for passengers to be bused to their destinations from alternate airports due to fortuitous events.

Your airline... apples... Ryanair... oranges.

Statement above is IYHO... of course. Perhaps not all will agrree with your take. The captain, in fact is the ground security coordinator whilst on the ground, as well making endeavours to solve problems with solutions within his/her grasp.

Now that's where you crossed the line... keep your opinions to yourself until you have all the facts of the situation at hand... and clearly sir you are quick to judge without the facts, or perhaps its you are a tryo with limited exposure to such situations with high ideals, which is admirable. But such assumptions and statements??? That's ignorance and arrogance, and perhaps due to lack of experience of... which won't stand out at one's next interview... wouldn't you agree?

captjns, I must not have made my point very clearly. I don't expect a Ryanair flight crew to act any differently than an Air France or British Air crew, for example. Yes, the culture, pay, rules, service, etc. are all different. But it comes down to individuals taking pride in their work and doing the best they can given their resources. A Captain of an airline going out of his/her way to ensure the passengers are taken care of (or at the very least informed) is no different to me than a McDonald's employee running to the parking lot to catch a customer they shortchanged at the register. Southwest has a similar low cost culture/fare structure to that of Ryanair and their crews are probably the hardest working in the entire industry. It pays off for them big time.

My point about the letters from my company has nothing to do with that airline specifically. It was to point out the fact that you can turn a terrible flight into a good experience (or at least better) for passengers simply with good customer service. That is as much a factor at United Airlines as it is on Island Bahamas Sky Tours.

And yes, my final statements were definitely just my opinion. What facts are you referring to? My last two sentences weren't based on any specific facts at all. That wasn't a reference to the Ryanair incident but flying in general. To argue that a pilot that puts in extra effort to help passengers isn't going to be sought after sounds quite irrational to me. That is EXACTLY what airlines are looking for. They couldn't care less how crappy your approach was as long as you were safe, didn't break anything, and the passengers were happy. Emphasis on happy passengers there. There is nothing ignorant or arrogant about it! Perhaps you were blending my opinion on admirable flight crew qualities with my criticism of the Ryanair crew...

Any updates on how RyanAir has handled the fallout of this incident since it happened?



Fred