Some of you who may read this blog might have heard of Ryanair, a low cost airline based in Dublin that presents itself as the low fares airline and is staffed mainly by people who cannot speak English very clearly. They appear to fall out both with monopolistic airport operators and their customers who always seem to come back for more.
I have not flown with them very often but recently they opened up a service from Manchester to an airport in Germany that they call Frankfurt Hahn but is in fact no where near Frankfurt (similar to London Luton and London Stansted airports that are neither near to Manchester nor London).
Anyway, to cut a long winded rant short, I boarded my flight at Manchester last week having paid for "priority boarding" with an expectation of being able to sit an emergency exit row (my legs are long). I must expaian that the Ryanair business model is rapid turnaround of aircraft between flights where the self loading cargo are expected to fight for a seat rather than be allocated one beforehand. The elite may pay extra to board first from the priority queue.
All the exit row seats were blocked off from use including the front seats in the cabin and those by the overwing emergency exits.
I asked: "Please may I sit at an exit row"
"No" came the stern answer "You need to reserve these beforehand at an additional premium".
I said "You cannot operate this aircraft legally without occupation of the window seats - who will be briefed and able to open these exits in an emergency?"*
"Sit down and shut up" came the reply from ex Stasi officer Chief Cabin Attendant Ms.
Wilhelmena Zaisser .
I did not sit down but took photographs of the empty exit rows.
"Photography is not permiteed on Ryanair aircraft" barked Ms Stasi.
"pardon me what?" I said and sat down.
Then the Captain came to interview me I gathered from his demanour and dress sense that his name was
Wolfgang von Schwanitz Jr and he informed me (I paraphrase here) that "if I didn't like it here I could leave."
I thanked him for his kind attention and when I landed at Frakfurt Hernia airport promptly reported him and his balloney airline to the the Aviation authorities.
I was told by the UK CAA "
Concerns about Ryanair selling these emergency row seats for extra legroom as additional revenue has prompted the Irish Regulator (Irish Aviation Authority) to issue new guidelines regarding the use of this seating and any queries regarding this should be addressed to them"
It turns out that Ryanair are being very naughty and should be following
THIS ADVISORY NOTICE.
The nice man from the IAA told me"
European Aviation Safety law (EU OPS) states that “an operator shall establish procedures to ensure that passengers are seated where, in the event that an emergency evacuation is required they may best assist and not hinder evacuation from the aeroplane.” (Ops 1.280)
As you are aware, the IAA has issued its safety policy in regard to the occupancy and briefing of passengers at self help exits. (The link to this policy is in the attached email response from the UK CAA)
All Irish operators to whom this policy applies are expected to comply with it. Ryanair has been advised of this and is now fully aware of its responsibilities in this regard.
The situation which you encountered recently on your Ryanair flights will be resolved as soon as possible."
To which Ryanair said to me "
Dear Customer,
Thank you for contacting Ryanair.
We sincerely regret that this was reflected to you on this occasion and as such have forwarded your comments onto our Base Captian, to ensure that this type of situation does not recur.
Ryanair prides itself on the high standards of service and professionalism provided by our staff. We endeavour to maintain these high standards with regular retraining programmes, which focus on providing excellent service to our customers"
Please note that if you have any further queries relating to this request you will have to submit another request via our web form"
So that was all of a bit of a waste of time!
.
*
The aircraft certification process for emergency evacuation assumes that the seats adjacent to self-help emergency exits are occupied by passengers or in some cases by cabin crew. If these seats are unoccupied, the operation of the self help emergency exit and the subsequent evacuation could be delayed as passengers may not realise that they should open the exits. Passengers would also need to move from their assigned seats to the exits and then familiarise themselves with the operating instructions on the exit placard before opening the exits.
