Ryan Air Chaos

[C.Foo 3]

Flights missed in Ryanair chaos at Stanstead airport

THE host of the BBC’s Question Time, David Dimbleby, was among hundreds of holidaymakers who missed their flights from Stansted airport yesterday after Ryanair, the cut-price airline, failed to open enough check-in desks.

 

Only 11 such desks, or “bag drops”, were open on one of the busiest departure days of the summer to service the airline’s 255 flights. Queues backed up through the terminal as passengers watched their flights depart while they waited to check in or drop their bags.

 

Police officers patrolling the terminal were called upon to calm some passengers as tensions ran high. About 500 passengers, including families with young children, were faced with finding alternative flights or cancelling their holidays. Last night some were sleeping in the terminal.

 

Dimbleby, 70, with his wife and family, had been due to fly to Toulon, in the south of France, but were still holding their luggage when their plane departed at 6.35pm, 95 minutes after the check-in desk opened and almost two hours after he had arrived at the airport.

 

“It’s a nightmare,” he said. “Ryanair have abdicated responsibility. They have not spoken to any of these people, there have not been any public announcements and they have not said when the flights are called.

 

“They sell tickets for flights and don’t operate a check-in but are quite happy to take everyone’s money. The police are here with machineguns, supposed to be protecting us from terrorists, but they end up protecting Ryanair ticket sellers. It’s absurd.”

 

Fiona Wilson, 35, was told she was too late to board her flight for a two-week holiday in Grenada but some of her luggage had been put on the plane. “They are not sure when we can get it back,” she said.

 

The airline has adopted a policy to encourage passengers to check in online and discourages people from bringing suitcases by charging extra for luggage. It says it will stop airport check-in altogether from October.

 

Ryanair subcontracts its check-in desks to Swissport, but neither were available for comment last night. Stansted said: “There were only 11 [Ryanair] check-in desks open, which is fewer than we would have expected given the volume of flights they have.”

 

Comments section from paper

ronan b wrote:

As mr O Leary was recently quoted in the new york times "people are willing to endure almost any indignity so long as they can fly cheaply" so it should not come as a shock to people when they face a situation like the one at stanstead.mr O Leary is well aware of whats going on on the ground and of course he will chose to do nothing,while my sympathies go out to the people yesterday,you should have known to expect shall we say not a smooth ride when you clicked the "i agree to ryanair's terms and conditions box" on the website,lets face it ryanair didnt just pop up two days ago,they have been around for a long time and will continue to put people through indignities until people realise they are NOT a cheap airline,they just dress up their fares,maybe now that such a high profile person as mr Dimbleby who regulary rubs shoulders with the people in power can do something about this shabby company,its no good giving ryanair a fine they love all the free publicity that comes with it,a ban from the air would be more fitting.

 

Donald Dimar wrote:

Dear Mr O'Leary

Thankyou for bringing the opportunity of cheap, affordable air travel to the masses. Thankyou for telling me Ryanair are the cheapest and best. Thankyou for telling me you are constantly looking at ways to make travel cheaper.

Thankyou for telling me that I and my family can get stuffed and that our holiday is ruined because we got to the airport 3 hours before departure yesterday and were still queuing to drop off our bags when the flight left. Thankyou for telling us there are no refunds and that we must buy new, full price tickets. Thankyou for reminding me that cheapest is rarely best. I will never use Ryanair again. Thankyou for ruining our summer.

August 2, 2009 10:31 AM BST on UK-TimesOnline Recommend? ( Report Abuse

 

 

 

Brendan Pearce wrote:

Having just woken up in Swindon rather than sunny Portugal, I still cannot believe what I experienced yesterday. We queued for 2.5 hours, then were told to go to another desk, no communication about flights and non existent customer service. This was a near riot! Hope Ryanair go bust in the very near future....

August 2, 2009 9:54 AM BST on UK-TimesOnline

 

Dennis Freeman wrote:

we all know about Ryanair and it's cost cutting. I will not travel with Ryanair and I don't understand why others do. i have travelled Easyjet for years and have always checked in on time and got my flight which was also on time.

August 2, 2009 9:44 AM BST on UK-TimesOnline Recommend? (7) Report Abuse

 

 

 

Peter Jackson wrote:

If this is management's attitude to customer service, what is it's attitude to aircraft maintenance?

August 2, 2009 8:51 AM BST on UK-TimesOnline Recommend? (10) Report Abuse

 

 

 

John Bald wrote:

I suppose I was lucky two weeks ago, when I went with a group of teachers to Spain and three people who'd arrived in good time nearly missed the flight because of huge luggage crews. I'd bought a lightweight bag to avoid the luggage hassle. I don't think the Ryanair chairman is sly so much as plain stupid. People will now only use his airline when there's no alternative, and this is not good business.

August 2, 2009 8:32 AM BST on UK-TimesOnline Recommend? (5) Report Abuse

 

 

 

Robert Elliott wrote:

My experience of Ryanair is that they don't care at all about the customer. I've avoided flying with them. They just want all your cash.

August 2, 2009 8:21 AM BST on UK-TimesOnline Recommend? (10) Report Abuse

 

 

 

Roger Darce wrote:

Talking to people in recent days turning up two-and-a-half hours before their flight and nearly missing it, this situation has been building up for a while. The fact is that 'Slick Mick' wants you to travel with hand-luggage only.... and I do.

August 2, 2009 7:12 AM BST on UK-TimesOnline Recommend? (3) Report Abuse

 

 

 

lance notalot wrote:

Surely not THE same David Dimbleby, who only yesterday, in this paper, was trying to save the Planet??

 

 

 

Catherine Barrett wrote:

Children crying, punch ups and verbal abuse, I've never known such a shambles and won't be flying with ryanair again. How can we have been three hours early and misses our flight?! Annoying thing was the flight was delayed and they still wouldn't let us in as we had missed the baggage slot! Ryanair staff need to learn to communicate with their customers and not treat them worse than cattle

[Y C LEONG 1]

that's why i avoid FR at ALL COST.. i never fly with them unless i really have to.. Easyjet is the best.. no delays, no extra cost expected to pay at check-in, u are allow however heavy your handluggage could be as long as it fits into the dimension of the cage. i just hope easyjet will not follow the footsteps of ryanair too much by incurring such costs like online check-in and airport check-in for £40 and even printing your boarding pass at the airport.. rubbish.. utterly rubbish airline..

[Cornelis Boersma 0]

Hehe, yeah! this is good for Ryanair! This really is the only airline where I dont take pictures of when spotting! B@st@rds!

EasyJet rulez in this case!