Rol From Germany, joined Feb 2000, 76 posts, RR: 0 Posted (10 years 12 months 4 days 22 hours ago) and read 2040 times:
Today i read in the newspaper (Frankfurter Allgemeine and Financal Times) about a dispute between Michael O' Leary (Boss of Ryanair) and Stelios Haji-Ioannou (Easyjet). Haji-Ioannou said Ryanair has a lot of old 737 and the pilots are overworked, they would work under pressure of time and so on. What do you think? Is this right? Is flying Ryanair unsafe because the pilots are stressed?
Ndebele From Germany, joined Apr 2001, 2895 posts, RR: 24 Reply 1, posted (10 years 12 months 4 days 20 hours ago) and read 1966 times:
I read this article, too. It's true that Ryanair's 732s were built in the early 1980s. But does this make them unsafe? No, there has never been a Ryanair accident up to now. If you ask me, it's only Stelios who plays dirty when telling everybody how unsafe those 732s are. Airlines like BA, LH, SK or AF still have 20-years-old aircraft in their fleets, are those airlines unsafe? And looking at the Ryanair 738 delivery schedule (and the 732 retiring schedule), we can be sure that Ryanair will have one of the most modern fleets in the world.
I have to agree that Ryanair pilots do not have much time to relax between the flights, and flying two return trips each day (with only 25 minutes ground time between the flights), they must be stressed I'm sure, it must be much more stressing than one 10-hour longhaul flight. This is the real safety problem imo, but do Easyjet pilots have less flights each day? Do they have a longer ground time between two flights? I don't know.
Capt.Picard From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 5, posted (10 years 12 months 4 days 18 hours ago) and read 1914 times:
Yes, I read the articles on Ryanair here in Argentina; I honestly believe a lot of what was reported was media spin; plenty of jobs are stressful. What about Air Traffic Control.
Taking exams is stressful for me, but I tend to perform well in them.
My opinion is that 1) Ryanair have satisfied the IAA 2) They haven't yet had an accident
The rest is media hype (in my opinion), and the same could be said of any airline. Sure, Ryanair receive loads of complaints, but they make it clear what they are prepared to offer, and what they are not. If you don't like'em don't fly'em. Meanwhile, the rest of us will continue to fly to Europe for peanuts.
Ndebele From Germany, joined Apr 2001, 2895 posts, RR: 24 Reply 6, posted (10 years 12 months 4 days 17 hours ago) and read 1910 times:
Talking about ATC: I think they have to have a break at least every 90 minutes.
I will keep on flying Ryanair, but it's a fact that Ryanair crews have less time for a break between two flights than other airlines' crews.
Cedarjet From United Kingdom, joined May 1999, 7724 posts, RR: 55 Reply 9, posted (10 years 12 months 4 days 14 hours ago) and read 1851 times:
Stelios must have his head up his arse cos easyJ started out with 737-200s, if he thinks they're dangerous then why did he put his airline and it's passengers in such terrible jeopardy by flying such inherently lethal equipment?
And the short-turn around thing is patently nonsense. easyJ flight crews all got a watch from Stelios (nice gift from mngt). The first twenty minutes of the hour on the watch face was the pattern of the flag usually seen at the finishing line of a motor race, and the rest of the hour on the watch face was blank (actually orange). This was Stelios' way of reminding pilots in the strongest way possible that they had to achieve a 20 minute turn. Cheers.
Plus, the average fatality rate in commercial aviation is 1.5 per million flights. Southwest is far and away the safest airline, beating out everyone else by a mile, to have acheived 10 million flights (and counting) without a fatality. And they fly exclusively 737s (including more -200s than easyJ and Ryanair combined) with exclusively 20 minute turnarounds.
easyJ are my favourite low-cost airline, I'm a big fan of the business but sometimes I can't help thinking Stelios is a bit of a prat.
fly Saha Air 707s daily from Tehran's downtown Mehrabad to Mashhad, Kish Island and Ahwaz
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