Ryanair: Passing the buck??

mobpd

Hi
I was on a Ryanair flight this afternoon from Dub to Eindhoven. We boarded the plane on time but then sat on the aircraft for 30 mins waiting for a pilot to turn up. The first officer told us that the original captain scheduled for the flight had taken ill earlier and we were waiting for a replacement pilot.
Eventaully the pilot did arrive and we took off late and arrived in Eindhoven 25 mins late.

I was just checking their website and noticed that the return flight to Dublin was showing as Delayed on their Flight Information page but curiously the reason given is : Earlier Diversion due to runway closure at Barcelona !!!
I dont know how this can be the reason - even if the replacement pilot was on a flight from Barcelona we had all the other crew members on board....
I wonder if this is Ryanair not wanting to accept that the delay was due to them not having adequate standby pilots in the right place?
Hmmmm

FlutterinBantam

An airline will always have situations when flt crew on stand by are used up... then the only thing to do is wait for the next available qualified pilot to come in on the next flight.

30 mins wasn't too bad tbh......

secret_squirrel

Its also worth mentioning that a different excuse might allow them to fiddle their punctuality figures that they are obsessed with lately.

mobpd

secret_squirrel wrote:

Its also worth mentioning that a different excuse might allow them to fiddle their punctuality figures that they are obsessed with lately.

and perhaps to avoid having to pay out on any insurance claims for delays??

FlutterinBantam

Hesu... !!!!Surely there would be no pay out for a 25 min dly....

Capt'n Midnight

odd because in the US they found that passengers are more patient with technical problems than human error delays and they use those as excuses to fob off people on board rather than tell passangers that they are waiting for lemon scented serveittes

mobpd

FlutterinBantam wrote:

Hesu... !!!!Surely there would be no pay out for a 25 min dly....

that was not my point ...i know you wouldnt get anything for 25 mins delay ....

but wondered if ryanair were in the habit of trying to find someone else to blame for the delays esp. when the co-pilot on my flight today certainly gave the impression that they should have had someone on standby ....

i always wonder if ANYONE has succesfully managed to file a claim against them (for more lengthy delays of course) under their own travel policy they sneakily try to get you to purchase with each booking? it looks from their flight information website that all delays are anyone else's fault than ryanair themsleves...

also just taken a look at the flight info listing the current flights now there are 125 flights listed with 56 of them showing delays (45% delays) - the headline figure of 81% on time certainly not the case this evening

FlutterinBantam

Not sure about this but I think anything away within 15 mins of STD is considered on time...

Another thing.... if you delve far enough backward you can attribute something which happened 12 hours ago for a planes dly....eg Runway in Stanstead blocked... 0700 Fri morning...closed for 2 hours... causing diversions /dlys /disruptions... Plane ex Dub to EDI at 2230 Fri night late because of the disruption earlier this morning in STN..... I know its a cop out but it happens.

r3nu4l

mobpd wrote:

I was just checking their website and noticed that the return flight to Dublin was showing as Delayed on their Flight Information page but curiously the reason given is : Earlier Diversion due to runway closure at Barcelona !!!
I dont know how this can be the reason - even if the replacement pilot was on a flight from Barcelona we had all the other crew members on board....

Are you sure the plane you flew in on was the one going back to Dublin? Sometimes the plane you come in on is going elsewhere and another plane is making the 'return' journey. This may be for fuel efficiency reasons or to facilitate crew transfers etc.

therecklessone

r3nu4l wrote:

Are you sure the plane you flew in on was the one going back to Dublin?

Tomorrow's flight:


Sat, 16 Sep 06
Flight FR1964
10:30 Depart Dublin (DUB)
13:10 Arrive Eindhoven (EIN)

Sat, 16 Sep 06
Flight FR1965
13:35 Depart Eindhoven (EIN)
14:10 Arrive Dublin (DUB)

Suggests its the same aircraft, no?

r3nu4l

therecklessone wrote:

Tomorrow's flight:


Sat, 16 Sep 06
Flight FR1964
10:30 Depart Dublin (DUB)
13:10 Arrive Eindhoven (EIN)

Sat, 16 Sep 06
Flight FR1965
13:35 Depart Eindhoven (EIN)
14:10 Arrive Dublin (DUB)

Suggests its the same aircraft, no?

That's for the flight on Saturday, the OP is talking about a return flight yesterday isn't he? If a plane flies from Dublin to Stansted that does not mean that it is returning to Dublin, it could be going to Barcelona or any number of destinations, the next flight to Dublin could be on a completely different plane.

therecklessone

r3nu4l wrote:

That's for the flight on Saturday, the OP is talking about a return flight yesterday isn't he? If a plane flies from Dublin to Stansted that does not mean that it is returning to Dublin, it could be going to Barcelona or any number of destinations, the next flight to Dublin could be on a completely different plane.

My apologies.

Its the same story on Wednesday next, flight to Dublin leaves 25 minutes after the flight from Dublin arrives. The Dublin arrival arrives 4hrs 40mins after the last Ryanair arrival (from Rome at 14:05) and 15 minutes before a Stansted arrival (if its that a/c they've managed to perfect a 10 minute turnaround)

Trust me, its the same aircraft used for the two flights.