Criticism of Ryanair

The low-cost airline Ryanair has been heavily criticised throughout the low-cost part of its history for many of its practices.

Advertising
Ryanair does not employ an advertising agency, instead producing all its advertising material in-house. Michael O'Leary often states that the airline goes to extremes to make a point.

Alleged offensiveness of advertising
Ryanair's advertising has occasionally been considered offensive . A British judge has described a Ryanair advert as vulgar
One of their ads used a picture of the Manneken Pis, a famous Belgian statue of a urinating urchin, with the words: "Pissed off with Sabena's high fares?" Sabena sued and on July 10, the court ruled that the ads were misleading and offensive. Ryanair was ordered to discontinue the ads immediately or face fines. The judge also ordered Ryanair to publish an apology in Belgian newspapers and post the summary of the judgment on its website for three weeks, in three languages.
Intent on furthering the publicity of the case, Ryanair did as instructed and indeed issued an apology in Belgian newspapers. "We're Sooooo Sorry Sabena!" said the advert, which went on to list seven more one-way price comparisons, insolently maintaining that Ryanair is up to 89% cheaper. The ad concluded: "Ryanair is really, really sorry and promises to include this information in our future advertising."
In a number of incidents it has responded stubbornly to relatively trivial matters, often to make a point about the constant need to avoid adding "frills" to its service.

Personal attacks in advertising

Ryanair regularly makes attacks on opponents. . In one such notable incident, former Irish Minister for Transport Mary O'Rourke (1997–2002), was personally ridiculed in a series of controversial newspaper advertisements when she refused to break up the state monopoly which then ran Irish airports, Aer Rianta. (The break-up of Aer Rianta remains a high-profile demand for Michael O'Leary. Under the State Airports Act 2004, Aer Rianta has been renamed Dublin Airport Authority, although as of April 2006 Cork and Shannon airports had not yet been given autonomy pending resolution of a dispute over debt transfers).

Misleading advertising

Ryanair was ordered by Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to stop claiming that its flights from London to Brussels are faster than the rail connection Eurostar on the grounds that the claim was misleading .
- Ryanair have made it clear to the public that they are standing by their claims.

Criticism of behaviour of Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary

The Economist journal contends that "What has made Ryanair so disliked...is Mr O'Leary's tendency to rough up anyone who comes within range" and refers to his "typically four-letter-word abuse" . Other articles have reported that O'Leary has stooped to foul language in his public statements on numerous occasions

Actions against criticism on internet
In 2004, a website, Ryanair Campaign, appeared that seeks to publicise Ryanair's alleged ill treatment of its passengers; Ryanair's lawyers have come down upon it heavily. In August 2006, Ryanair succeeded in an appeal to Nominet to gain control of the domain name that the Ryanair Campaign website was using, on the grounds that it consisted only of the Ryanair trademark plus suffix. The decision did not relate to the content of the site. The owners then moved the site to http://www.ryanaircampaign.org/. A similar attempt by Ryanair to gain control of the new domain name was denied by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Complaints have also been registered with the Advertising Standards Authority over a Ryanair '5 Million seat Free Flights' advert that was deemed to be misleading and a breach of the ASA CAP Code.

Customer service

Ryanair has been criticised for many aspects of its customer service. The Economist journal wrote that Ryanair's "cavalier treatment of passengers" had given Ryanair "a deserved reputation for nastiness" and that the airline "has become a byword for appalling customer service... and jeering rudeness towards anyone or anything that gets in its way" . It has been reported that some newspapers have columns especially for customer complaints about Ryanair .

Refusal to honour promise of free flights

In 2002 Ryanair reneged on a promise of free flights given as a prize to the airline's one millionth passenger, Jane O'Keeffe. She received the prize in 1988, and had been using it for several flights every year, but the airline refused to carry her free of charge on a flight in 2002. The woman eventually went to court and won an award of €67,500.

Refusal to refund taxes and fees

Critics have accused Ryanair of poor treatment of customers whose flights have been cancelled. The airline formerly refused to provide accommodation or meal vouchers when flights were cancelled or delayed, a practice which became illegal within the EU on February 17, 2005 . Ryanair also refused to refund taxes and fees when passengers cancel their tickets. They revised their practice on this subject by introducing an administration fee of £14 per ticket for handling refunds, a fee which exceeds the amount the passengers may be eligible for . Norwegian consumer authorities have fined Ryanair £43,000 for this practice.

Having complained about having to compensate customers for cancelled or delayed flights Ryanair is now suing the UK government for compensation for losses it claims it incurred through cancelled or delayed flights over the recent (August 2006) security alerts.

Method of informing passengers of changes to flight times

In common with other airlines, Ryanair also sometimes makes changes to its flight times at relatively short notice. However, several factors make this particularly problematic in the case of low-cost carriers in general and Ryanair in particular:
* the company notifies affected passengers by email rather than by telephone, so there is sometimes a delay before the passenger learns of the change (passengers on holiday may not have regular access to email);
* because Ryanair does not provide connecting flights, many passengers make their own connections by booking separate tickets. If the Ryanair flight time change makes the connection impossible, the passenger loses the cost of the connecting flight unless this is covered by travel insurance;
* the only way for a passenger to contact Ryanair is through a premium rate phone line. An Early Day Motion in the British Parliament which was put forward in 2006 criticized Ryanair specifically for this reason and called on the company to provide customers with a means to contact the company by e-mail.
* Ryanair does not even provide a web form for customers to contact them.

Rudeness of staff towards passengers

Ryanair staff have been accused of behaving rudely to passengers. There have been numerous incidents, including the following which have appeared in the press:

* using foul and offensive language and attempting to grab a boarding card from a passenger

* treating passengers dismissively during a security alert. A judge called on Ryanair to issue an apology

* behaving in a menacing manner towards passengers

* extremely rude and offensive behaviour towards a 14 year old boy with a broken leg and accompanying adults. The boy was forced to stand for the duration of the flight (1 hour 40 minutes)
* gratuitous rudeness towards a passenger who asked for a non-alcoholic drink after passengers were kept in a plane for three hours due to a delay

* charging a family of survivors of the Tsunami disaster in December 2004 €1,100 to change their flight, while other airlines did not charge for changes in the flight time

Treatment of disabled passengers
The airline has come under heavy criticism in the past for its poor treatment of disabled passengers. In 2002 it refused to provide wheelchairs for disabled passengers at Stansted Airport, greatly angering disabled rights groups. The airline argued that this provision was the responsibility of the airport authority stating that wheelchairs were provided by 80 of the 84 Ryanair destination airports at that time. A court ruling in 2004 judged that the responsibility should be shared by the airline and the airport owners; Ryanair responded by adding a surcharge of £0.50 to all its flight costs.

Specific incidents involving disabled passengers include the following:

*In 2005, the airline was criticised for ejecting nine blind and partially sighted passengers from a flight at Stansted, because the group meant the plane would be carrying more than the four disabled passengers permitted by the airline's safety regulations.

*In 2005, Ryanair were forced to pay Bob Ross £1,336 in damages after charging him £18 to use a wheelchair.

*In 2006 Ryanair apologised after refusing to provide an eldery injured passenger with a wheelchair.

*In 2006 Ryanair apologised after refusing to provide a sick cancer sufferer with a wheelchair.

*In 2007 Ryanair apologised after forcing a 14-year old with a broken leg to stand on a flight, despite the boy being in pain. Ryanair cabin crew and captain were described as cruel.

*In 2007 Ryanair ordered a group of visually impaired passengers to disembark from a flight before take-off on the excuse that the flight had exceeded the permitted number of "mobility-impaired" passengers and refused to pay compensation required by law, claiming that they had disembarked voluntarily. Ryanair paid compensation before court proceedings took place .

*In 2007, Ryanair again did not allow a musical group called Caribbean Steel International Orchestra to re-embark after a suspicious behaviour due to one member being visually impaired.

Distance of airports from cities

Ryanair commonly flies to regional airports which, while cheap, are in various cases far away from the cities they claim to serve. For example, the airline used to advertise a service to Malmö-Sturup Airport, in Sweden, as "Copenhagen", Denmark (65 km away). When traveling to "Oslo", passengers are flown to Torp Airport, 130 km outside of the Oslo city limits. Ryanair still flies to airports it describes as "Barcelona (Reus)" and "Barcelona (Girona)" - both cities are 100 km from Barcelona. The cost of a transfer to Barcelona from these airports often pushes the prices up considerably.

In some cases the names were eventually changed by legal action (e.g. "" and "St. Étienne (Lyon)"). In other cases courts have upheld the designated name — this was the case for Frankfurt-Hahn Airport, over 140 km from central Frankfurt, or San Javier Airport (Alicante sur), in Region of Murcia, over 100 km from Alicante city.

One of the company's main hubs is an airport it calls "Brussels South", and which is the airport of another Belgian city: Charleroi, some 60 km south of Brussels.

There are similar arguments about Ryanair's flights to Milan, which actually land at Bergamo Orio al Serio, 50 km northeast of the city, in the Alps between Lake Como and Lake Garda.

In February 2005 Ryanair published an advertisement in Norway's Aftenposten erroneously featuring flights from Oslo to London Prestwick: Prestwick Airport is near Glasgow, 600 km from London. The company said that the advertisement was a typing error.

Disguising fares as surcharges

Ryanair has been described as "infamous for adding myriad charges for 'free' flights" . In August 2007 Ryanair announced that it would start to charge passengers for check-in at airports instead of online . Passengers with bags are unable to check-in online.

The UK newspaper The Guardian has alleged that the insurance fee which Ryanair charges each passenger (charged on every passenger booking together with other additional travel taxes and charges) is unreasonably high.

The insurance surcharge amounted to more than 10% of Ryanair's average fare, the newspaper estimated.

Ryanair declined to disclose its exact outlay on insurance. The Guardian estimates that in the year to March 2005 passengers would have paid £87 million in surcharges. EasyJet, which has a similarly sized fleet, paid £19 million for 2005 disaster insurance.

Ryanair introduced insurance surcharge in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 to cover a spike in the cost of insuring aeroplanes. The charge was initially £1.85 but has since increased by 70% to £3.15 (May 2006). Experts claim that during the period the cost of cover has actually fallen to relatively normal rates.

Rivals easyJet spokesman claimed that "Ryanair's insurance charges appear to be far higher than they actually incur (…) Either this is poor cost management on Ryanair's behalf or it's a fuel surcharge in disguise."

Ryanair retaliated by pointing out that, even with taxes included, their average fare is well below easyJet. Ryanair spokesman Peter Sherrard said easyJet "charged each passenger last year £14 more per ticket than Ryanair thereby overcharging their passengers by £413 million".

Also, campaigners for the disabled accused Ryanair of profiteering from another part of "taxes and charges" tab – the £0.33 wheelchair levy. The levy is used to cover the cost of transporting disabled passengers onto its planes. Ryanair is the only major airline operating in Britain to impose such charges.

The UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph estimates that in 12 months up to May 2006 Ryanair received nearly £12 million through the levy. The governmental body Disability Rights Commission (DRC), which analysed the 2004 Stansted airport practice data, said that the levy should be no more than 2p – the company would still have collected £700,000 this way.

The Telegraph quoted Michael O'Leary defending Ryanair's position: "We estimate it costs £25 to transport disabled passengers at Stansted, and we carry 1.5 million such passengers every year."

British Airways said it had absorbed cost to transport disabled travellers into its ticket prices. EasyJet estimated that services for the disabled added no more than 10p to the price of a ticket.

Baggage allowances
Ryanair operates a baggage policy, which it says, passes on the true costs of carrying checked-in luggage, to those travellers who use this service; allowing it to lower the fares for travellers with only hand baggage, as well as flying more efficiently. To reinforce this policy for bookings made after 20th September 2007, there is a new charge of £2.00/€3.00 per person for use of the check-in desk. [http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/news.php?yr07&monthaug&story=gen-en-240807]

Thereafter, a further fee of £5.00/€6.00 per item of checked in baggage each way (or £10.00 /€12.00 roundtrip) provided this is included with the original booking made on the Ryanair website. If the booking is made by telephone or baggage added as an amendment subsequently by telephone or at the airport in person, the charge doubles to £10.00 /€12.00 per piece for checked-in baggage [http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/faqs.php?sectbag&questcheckedbaggageallowance].

There is no free allowance for checked bags on Ryanair, while most other European budget airlines allow 1 free checked bag. The total paid allowance for all checked baggage is 15kg per passenger, regardless of the number of bags paid for, no single bag can exceed this 15kg limit, any unused baggage allowance cannot be transferred to other passengers, even when travelling on the same booking reference.

Ryanair was the first airline to impose a charge for checking in baggage, in 2006, taking many passengers by surprise. Since then, other airlines have followed suit, with Aer Lingus adopting the same price structure as Ryanair.

As Ryanair does not allow passengers to share baggage allowances, the example of a couple travelling with two checked bags, the first 20 kg and the second 10 kg would pay a 5 kg excess baggage charge of £27.50 / €40.00 (at £5.50/€8.00/ per kg). This policy is rigorously enforced by the company at most of its airports, it is a regular scene to witness Ryanair customers stripping their personal effects from bags in an effort to meet these rules.

Ryanair’s carry-on cabin hand baggage allowance is a single item of 10kg, which is a higher weight limit compared to some airlines, and the precise maximum dimensions specified are 55cm x 40cm x 20cm. Additional personal handbags are not permitted. These limits, size and weight are stringently applied, using electronic scales and measuring frames, at London Stansted they are enforced by BAA Limited (former British Airports Authority) staff with respect to Ryanair passengers as distinct from other airlines. Mathew Parris, a Times newspaper journalist, recounts his own experience

Dispatches programme
On 13 February 2006, Channel 4 broadcast a documentary as part of its Dispatches series, "Ryanair caught napping". Two undercover reporters obtained jobs as cabin crew based at Ryanair's operations at London Stansted Airport and secretly recorded the training programme, and cabin crew procedures. The documentary criticised Ryanair's training policies, security procedures, aircraft hygiene, and highlighted poor staff morale. It filmed Ryanair cabin crew sleeping on the job; using aftershave to cover the smell of vomit in the aisle rather than cleaning it up; ignoring warning alerts on the emergency slide; encouraging staff to falsify references for airport security passes; and asking staff not to recheck passengers' passports before they board flights. Staff in training were falsely told that any (no longer in service with Ryanair) impact would result in the death of the passenger sitting in seat 1A, and that they should not pass this information on to the passenger. [http://www.ryanair.com/site/promos/dispatches/02.%20Original%20letter%20from%20Dispatches%20to%20Ryanair%20%5B2006-01-12%5D.pdf]

Ryanair denied the allegations and published its correspondence with Dispatches on its website. It claims to have forwarded all 20 allegations to the UK and Irish aviation authorities, both of whom agreed that there was no substance to them. [http://www.ryanair.com/site/promos/dispatches/12.%20Ryanair%20Statement%20for%20Channel%204%20Dispatches%20Programme%20%5B2006-02-09%5D.pdf] It also alleged that the programme was misleading and that promotional materials, in particular a photograph of a stewardess sleeping, had been faked by Dispatches. [http://www.ryanair.com/site/promos/dispatches/14.%20Dispatches'%20misleading%20advertisement%20in%20media%20%5B2006-02-13%5D.pdf] Much of the subsequent coverage of the programme in the media considered that the documentary was overblown and failed to make substantive claims against the airline, with some going so far as to label the attempted exposé as a vindication for Ryanair. Following the documentary, Ryanair launched new services and a free flights offer.

Early 2006 cancellations
In the first quarter of 2006, a substantial number of Ryanair flights were cancelled, with passengers receiving refunds or being rebooked. Ryanair's explanation was that these cancellations were the result of late aircraft deliveries due to the Boeing machinists' strike. Whatever the cause, a number of other carriers operated wet-lease services for Ryanair during the first three months of 2006. One of these, Eirjet, was involved in an incident on March 29 (see below).

Polls
Ryanair was voted the "least favourite airline" in a 2006 poll by TripAdvisor.

One reason cited relative to other airlines was unfriendly staff.

Union issues
Unions representing workers in the airline industry criticize Ryanair, stating that the airline refuses to recognise trade unions and that the airline provides poor working conditions (for example, staff are banned from charging their own mobile phones at work to reduce the company's electricity bill).

Ryanair has attempted to pressure employees not to unionise, according to the Ryan Be Fair website, set up and run by employees to improve working conditions.

Ryanair does not recognise the Irish Airline Pilots' Association (IALPA), although it is the largest pilots' union in Ireland.

On 25 January 2005 the Irish Labour Court guaranteed an investigation into allegations of victimisation of staff who wished to join a trade union.

In July 2006, an Irish High Court judge found that Ryanair had bullied pilots to force them to agree to new contracts, and that some Ryanair managers had given false evidence in court .

The T & G Union has criticized Ryanair as an "exploiter of staff"

Subsidies
Ryanair receives subsidies from some European airports, a situation which has been investigated by the European Commission. The EC believes that subsidies from state-owned airports are potentially in breach of European Union competition rules unless they follow strict guidelines.

In February 2004 the European Commission ruled that Charleroi airport gave Ryanair illegal subsidies and ordered the airline to repay roughly €4 million of subsidies. Walloon authorities who offered the subsidies were considering appealing against the ruling because of the roughly €45 million that the airline route brings to the area every year.

Accidents and incidents
* The aircraft operating Ryanair Flight 296 from Dublin to London Stansted caught fire shortly after landing on 27 February 2002. Subsequent investigations found that although the aircraft was fully evacuated within 90 seconds, the air crew struggled to open the emergency doors, and some passengers were initially evacuated towards the fire. The UK Air Accident Investigation Board recommended changes to training procedures for air-crew to allow better handling of similar situations in future.

* On 1 September 2002, the Ryanair Flight 685 from the Stockholm-Västerås Airport to London Stansted was delayed by several hours after a Swedish man of Tunisian descent, later identified and named as Kérim Chatty, was detained after attempting to board the aircraft with a loaded gun in his hand luggage. Subsequent media reports suggested that Chatty was going to hijack the aircraft and fly it into the United States Embassy in London; however, no confirmation of these allegations was found in the following police investigation and trial. [http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d147&a73153].

* On 29 March 2006, an Eirjet A320 plane operated by Eirjet on behalf of Ryanair, flying from Liverpool to City of Derry Airport, mistakenly landed at the nearby Ballykelly Army Camp Airport some 8 km away. A Ryanair spokesperson stated "This incident arose as a result of an error by the Eirjet pilot. The pilot was cleared by Air Traffic Control in City of Derry for a visual approach and mistook the nearby Ballykelly for City of Derry."

* On 12 April 2006, a Ryanair flight from Paris to Dublin was diverted to Prestwick Airport in Scotland under instruction from the UK Department for Transport, after a note was passed to cabin crew claiming a bomb was on board. The Boeing 737 was escorted by RAF Tornado fighter jets to landing, and the airport was closed temporarily. Despite the suspicion of a bomb being on board, security forces apparently prevented the passengers from leaving the plane for several hours.

* On 25 June 2007, a Ryanair plane from Barcelona (Gerona) to Venice (Treviso) lost one of the landing gear's tires, after the flight had been delayed for several hours to repair the same tire. The damage was discovered by airport staff when the plane was parking after landing. None of the 164 passengers was injured. No tire has been found yet, despite long searches carried out by both Gerona and Treviso airports' staff. A similar incident happened in Catania on 15 June 2006, when the Boeing 737 lost a tire from the front landing gear during taking-off. ANSV, the Italian flight security agency, which already advised in that occasion both Easa (European Aviation Safety Agency) and American FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), now started an inquiry.

* On 28th August 2007 a Ryanair flight landing at Krakow airport blew its tires on the runway, closing the airport and causing an emergency evacuation.

* There have been at least four cases of mishandled hazardous landing approaches by Ryanair pilots between July 2004 and June 2006 and in February 2007 the Irish transport minister demanded a report on the final incident. Ryanair has been criticized for demanding turnaround times of 25 minutes, putting pilots under severe pressure. .

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