Following the expose on Ryanair in the Dispatches programme last Monday, the airline appeared in the national newspapers on the following day with an advert headline ”An apology”. Quite what Ryanair was apologising for was not entirely clear as the first impression is that they were apologising for the programme on TV. Reading the copy, Ryanair for reasons best known to itself, was apologising to other airlines for releasing three million zero rated fare tickets.
The question is whether this is a serious marketing ploy or a panic measure.
And if you do not turn up for a flight and just pay your so-called taxes and charges, what happens then? Ryanair pockets the taxes and charges (no you can't get those back - any money to be returned is lost to administrative charges!). Ryanair does not get a further penny, has an empty seat and fails to gain any additional revenue. Is it worthwhile offering free fights? Too easy for would-be passengers to dump them and take the small loss. Or make a spread of bookings if there is frequency on the route and you are not sure of your travelling time. Book as Mr Smith, M. Smith and M. A. Smith. All are legal. As far as a computer is concerned they are different.
The plot thickens. The Dublin-based but effectively Stansted-centred airline has begun charging for luggage at a rate of £5 on the day and £2.50 pre-booked. This move is in fact the opposite of the Ryanair's simplistic policy, as passengers with items for the hold will now have to spend time paying for this privilege and having their credit card verified ” what happens if they turn up with cash and require change? The staff will have to ensure they have plenty of fivers. Charging for baggage will slow down the check-in procedures. Is this a panic measure too?
Meanwhile the much-hyped Insight programme turned out in many ways to be a damp squib. Yes there are some problems with the classroom instruction given to trainee cabin staff but one suspects that this could happen with any airline. After all the teachers are human not robots. However it could be argued these trainers were telling half-truths, just like the airline itself does in its press releases. They have to be read at least twice, often a third time. This was typified by the statement put out by Ryanair just prior to the programme in which it categorically stated that the carrier is approved by the UK Civil Aviation Authority. This is not the case! As with all foreign airlines crew training responsibility lies with the country of licensing. The UK CAA cannot check a foreign carrier. If they are requested by the British government Department for Transport, that is a different matter, but that is a very rare. The last occasion was with Phuket Airlines of Thailand, subsequently failing and whose 747 was impounded at Gatwick.
Ryanair marches on. And so do the bookings. But what happens next?
Malcolm Ginsberg