Great 'service' from Ryanair - NOT!!!

From Ayrshire Post website:

http://www.ayrshirepost.net/ayrshire...2545-25494780/

http://preview.tinyurl.com/yfxjokb

Ayrshire pensioner (88) suffers stroke after nightmare ordeal with
Ryanair

Jan 1 2010 by Lisa Boyle, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

AN 88-year-old man had a stroke after he was abandoned by an airline
more than 70 miles from his destination.

Frail John Lynskey was left dazed and confused when his Prestwick
bound flight was diverted to Edinburgh because of bad weather.

But rather than ensure the pensioner was cared for in the sub-zero
temperatures, he was simply told to get a bus, which dropped him off
in the middle of nowhere.

The shocking catalogue of events unfolded when John decided to spend
Christmas with his daughter in Coylton.

He was due to arrive at Prestwick at 6.50pm, on December 23 on the
Ryanair flight from Shannon.

His daughter Patricia Christie and grand-daughter Nicola were eagerly
awaiting his arrival when they heard that the flight had been
diverted.

Son-in-law Kenny said: “The next couple of hours were a blank for
them. They presumed that the passengers would be brought by bus to
Prestwick but John never showed up.

“Meanwhile I was phoning the airport and trying to phone Ryanair but
nobody was able to confirm what was happening. It was a nightmare.

“John doesn’t have a mobile and he didn’t have anyone’s mobile
numbers
on him so there was no way of him contacting us.”

Unable to contact him, John’s frantic family had to call in police
who
filed him as a missing person.

Meanwhile, John had been advised to get a bus to the city centre and
then to Prestwick.

But the city bus he caught dropped him at a remote location and he
stood with his heavy suitcase in dark sub-zero conditions for over an
hour before he was able to catch another bus back to the airport.

Kenny continued: “By 11pm we were in absolute panic mode. I phoned
Strathclyde police, who phoned their colleagues in Lothian and
Borders.

“By 1am, they found John sitting alone in the airport totally
helpless. He didn’t know what was happening.”

Savvy officers put John in a taxi to Coylton– at a cost of £167.

And when Patricia and Nicola arrived home at 3am they found a cold,
hungry and scared John waiting in the porch – more than seven hours
after he was due to arrive.

But the family nightmare wasn’t over.

Patricia explained: “I was so relieved to get dad inside. We got him
a
cup of tea and something to eat then went to bed.

“The next day I was rushing around making breakfast and noticed that
my dad was spilling his food all down his front. Then I realised the
left side of his face was drooped.

“I just rushed into the hospital with him and doctors said he’d had a
stroke brought on by the stress and cold.”

John, from Galway, is now recovering at Patricia’s home. He was
released from hospital late on Christmas day.

John said: “I’ve never been through anything like that in my life
before.

“We still don’t know if Ryanair ever put on a bus for passengers to
get to Prestwick.

“I’ve travelled here plenty of times on that flight and nothing like
that has ever happened.

“I dread to think what could have happened to me.

“It ruined our Christmas.”

But Ryanair had no sympathy with John’s plight.

A spokesman said: “Ryanair flights were diverted due to the weather.
Passengers were fully advised of onward connections.”

At least when someone has a bad experience on the railway there's
usually some vestige of sympathy expressed regardless of whether the
TOC was or wasn't at fault. It's such a curt response that I can't
help wondering whether the newspaper reproduced a small piece of a
more fulsome response or didn't give the full story to the spokesman
in order to better fit the "Ryanair had no sympathy" assertion. There
again given Ryanair's reputation for abrasiveness perhaps not.

"CJB" wrote in message
...
From Ayrshire Post website:

http://www.ayrshirepost.net/ayrshire...2545-25494780/

http://preview.tinyurl.com/yfxjokb

Ayrshire pensioner (88) suffers stroke after nightmare ordeal with
Ryanair

---------------

It is very sad and I hope the stroke was not too severe and he will recover.

I would not use Ryan Air for essential travel or with people of limited self
reliance. Ryan Air does not claim to be a full service airline and it seems
it did what
I would expect. Many of its staff are not native English speakers and you
cannot depend on any of the aircrew having local knowledge of the airport
they
have landed at.

The gentleman clearly was unable to negotiate an unknown bus system, he
looks quite fit for an 88 year old man, but such a trip is not trivial at
that age.
Mobile phones are cheap and I cannot imagine anyone travelling like this not
owning one or borrowing one.

Edinburgh Airport has warm facilities and he could have waited there until
his relatives discovered that the flight had been diverted. I am not sure
the police did as much as I would have hoped, but they may have been over
whelmed and calling a Taxi was the simplest solution from their perspective,
although it sounds that the airport medical staff should have looked at him
first.

In message
, at
16:58:31 on Sun, 3 Jan 2010, CJB remarked:
Meanwhile, John had been advised to get a bus to the city centre and
then to Prestwick.

But the city bus he caught dropped him at a remote location and he
stood with his heavy suitcase in dark sub-zero conditions for over an
hour before he was able to catch another bus back to the airport.

It seems to me that this bus driver should have just as much blame.

Presumably John got on the "wrong" bus, or at the very least got off the
"right" bus at the "wrong place". Why did the bus driver abandon him,
wherever it was?
--
Roland Perry

On Mon, 4 Jan 2010 08:18:44 +0000, Roland Perry wrote:
In message
, at
16:58:31 on Sun, 3 Jan 2010, CJB remarked:
Meanwhile, John had been advised to get a bus to the city centre and
then to Prestwick.

But the city bus he caught dropped him at a remote location and he
stood with his heavy suitcase in dark sub-zero conditions for over an
hour before he was able to catch another bus back to the airport.

It seems to me that this bus driver should have just as much blame.

Presumably John got on the "wrong" bus, or at the very least got off the
"right" bus at the "wrong place". Why did the bus driver abandon him,
wherever it was?

I'm glad someone else thinks that, too. As I read the story it became
apparent that (while certainly not blameless) this was turning into
another "let's bash Ryanair for everything that goes wrong" piece.
ISTM the family didn't exactly help the preparation: having an 88 y.o.
flying alone, without any means of contacting them, either.

Q: do Ryanair actually have any ground staff at airports, or is it just
contracted out to someone like Servisair?

In message , at 10:29:08 on Mon, 4 Jan
2010, pete remarked:
As I read the story it became
apparent that (while certainly not blameless) this was turning into
another "let's bash Ryanair for everything that goes wrong" piece.
ISTM the family didn't exactly help the preparation: having an 88 y.o.
flying alone, without any means of contacting them, either.

And they should have access to information that would have told them the
flight was diverted. So they could take some action too.

Q: do Ryanair actually have any ground staff at airports, or is it just
contracted out to someone like Servisair?

Staffing is almost always contracted out, but is it "all". Maybe they
have at least a few supervisors on the payroll (in addition to the
flight crew).

Contracting out handling staff makes sense at airports with just a few
flights a day - the staff switch from handling one airline to another as
the day draws on. But even at big places like Stansted it's contracted
out (remember the finger-pointing when they had very big queues one
Saturday in the Autumn because the contractors has a staffing issue).
--
Roland Perry

"CJB" wrote in message
...
From Ayrshire Post website:

http://www.ayrshirepost.net/ayrshire...2545-25494780/

http://preview.tinyurl.com/yfxjokb

Ayrshire pensioner (88) suffers stroke after nightmare ordeal with
Ryanair

Jan 1 2010 by Lisa Boyle, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

AN 88-year-old man had a stroke after he was abandoned by an airline
more than 70 miles from his destination.

Frail John Lynskey was left dazed and confused when his Prestwick
bound flight was diverted to Edinburgh because of bad weather.

But rather than ensure the pensioner was cared for in the sub-zero
temperatures, he was simply told to get a bus, which dropped him off
in the middle of nowhere.

The shocking catalogue of events unfolded when John decided to spend
Christmas with his daughter in Coylton.

He was due to arrive at Prestwick at 6.50pm, on December 23 on the
Ryanair flight from Shannon.

His daughter Patricia Christie and grand-daughter Nicola were eagerly
awaiting his arrival when they heard that the flight had been
diverted.

Son-in-law Kenny said: “The next couple of hours were a blank for
them. They presumed that the passengers would be brought by bus to
Prestwick but John never showed up.

“Meanwhile I was phoning the airport and trying to phone Ryanair but
nobody was able to confirm what was happening. It was a nightmare.

“John doesn’t have a mobile and he didn’t have anyone’s mobile
numbers
on him so there was no way of him contacting us.”

Unable to contact him, John’s frantic family had to call in police
who
filed him as a missing person.

Meanwhile, John had been advised to get a bus to the city centre and
then to Prestwick.

But the city bus he caught dropped him at a remote location and he
stood with his heavy suitcase in dark sub-zero conditions for over an
hour before he was able to catch another bus back to the airport.

Kenny continued: “By 11pm we were in absolute panic mode. I phoned
Strathclyde police, who phoned their colleagues in Lothian and
Borders.

“By 1am, they found John sitting alone in the airport totally
helpless. He didn’t know what was happening.”

Savvy officers put John in a taxi to Coylton– at a cost of £167.

And when Patricia and Nicola arrived home at 3am they found a cold,
hungry and scared John waiting in the porch – more than seven hours
after he was due to arrive.

But the family nightmare wasn’t over.

Patricia explained: “I was so relieved to get dad inside. We got him
a
cup of tea and something to eat then went to bed.

“The next day I was rushing around making breakfast and noticed that
my dad was spilling his food all down his front. Then I realised the
left side of his face was drooped.

“I just rushed into the hospital with him and doctors said he’d had a
stroke brought on by the stress and cold.”

John, from Galway, is now recovering at Patricia’s home. He was
released from hospital late on Christmas day.

John said: “I’ve never been through anything like that in my life
before.

“We still don’t know if Ryanair ever put on a bus for passengers to
get to Prestwick.

“I’ve travelled here plenty of times on that flight and nothing like
that has ever happened.

“I dread to think what could have happened to me.

“It ruined our Christmas.”

But Ryanair had no sympathy with John’s plight.

A spokesman said: “Ryanair flights were diverted due to the weather.
Passengers were fully advised of onward connections.”

At least when someone has a bad experience on the railway there's
usually some vestige of sympathy expressed regardless of whether the
TOC was or wasn't at fault. It's such a curt response that I can't
help wondering whether the newspaper reproduced a small piece of a
more fulsome response or didn't give the full story to the spokesman
in order to better fit the "Ryanair had no sympathy" assertion. There
again given Ryanair's reputation for abrasiveness perhaps not.




The problem is the public, not RyanAir. Unfortunately, the public has
become conditioned to lousy service in exchange for a cheap fare. That's
why even the majors are now charging for formerly included services -
checked baggage, food, even non-alcoholic drinks on some flights. Airlines
like Ryanair advertise cheap service so people will abandon the majors, even
when the fares are roughly comparable, because it isn't worth the extra 5
(insert he Dollars, Euros, Pounds, other]. At least when air travel was
somewhat regulated, you got some value. Ryan doesn't offer a lot.

Jeff Hacker wrote:
Meanwhile, John had been advised to get a bus to the city centre and
then to Prestwick.

Sounds like a reasonable suggestion, but...


But the city bus he caught dropped him at a remote location and he
stood with his heavy suitcase in dark sub-zero conditions for over an
hour before he was able to catch another bus back to the airport.


Why would Ryanair be responsible for what the city bus did,
once the gentleman in question decided to take that option?

Bob M.

In message , at 17:14:47 on Wed, 6 Jan
2010, Jeff Hacker remarked:

The problem is the public, not RyanAir. Unfortunately, the public has
become conditioned to lousy service in exchange for a cheap fare.

The public has flocked to carriers offering a cheap fare.

That's why even the majors are now charging for formerly included
services - checked baggage, food, even non-alcoholic drinks on some
flights.

Evan an airline regarded as highly profitable makes only about £5 per
passenger per flight. So trimming the fat off can make a big difference
to the company.

Airlines like Ryanair advertise cheap service so people will abandon
the majors, even when the fares are roughly comparable, because it
isn't worth the extra 5 (insert he Dollars, Euros, Pounds, other].

In the UK, mush of the attraction of the low-cost airlines is that they
fly literally hundreds of routes that the major airlines never operated.

At least when air travel was somewhat regulated, you got some value.
Ryan doesn't offer a lot.

The level of comfort, service and dealing-with-incidents is the same or
better than you'll find on the railways and buses. With the proviso that
airports are usually better places to hang out waiting for delays to
subside than a train or bus station.

Most of the problems arise from unfamiliarity, in this case with the bus
services in Edinburgh. He either got the wrong bus, or got off the bus
at the wrong place. The blame there lies with the bus company.

Some people will suggest that the airline should have laid on coaches to
Prestwick, but that's not easy at odd hours of the day and in bad
weather. And many of the passengers probably don't live near Prestwick
anyway [although this one did], and Edinburgh/Glasgow (frequent train
service between them) might actually be a preferred destination.
--
Roland Perry

"Jeff Hacker" wrote in message
...
"CJB" wrote in message
...
From Ayrshire Post website:

The problem is the public, not RyanAir. Unfortunately, the public has
become conditioned to lousy service in exchange for a cheap fare. That's
why even the majors are now charging for formerly included services -
checked baggage, food, even non-alcoholic drinks on some flights.

I don't see the connection (between unbundling extras and poor service)

Personally I resent having to pay for someone else's meals on a plane so
unbundling seems like a bloody good idea.

But it costs nothing for the staff to be polite

tim

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
...
Some people will suggest that the airline should have laid on coaches to
Prestwick.

Sounds a good idea, but probably a logistic nightmare. The aircrew may
well have no local knowledge and in any case need to turn the aircraft
around.
The airline may well have no employees at the airport, particularly if the
diversion is to an airport not normally used or to one they do. but not at
the time of diversion.
Arranging a bus alternative from Dublin would have some problems in
contacting a company that was happy to give a foreign company credit.
Also for which passengers? Many may well have preferred to make their own
arrangements as probably Prestwick was not their final destination.



Ryan Air have a duty of care, leaving the passengers in a warm safe place
like Edinburgh Airport probably discharged this responsibility.

I take a lot of Ryan Air flights and I just budget for one in ten costing
me £200 to sort out myself. Still cheaper than BA.