Is flying with Ryanair dangerous?
by Dave on 23/11/09 at 11:34 pm
Ryanair has been widely known for its cost-saving practices, starting from charging passengers to use the toilet to fees for checking-in at the airport. But there are some areas in one’s business where one shouldn’t save money. According to allegations from Spanish aviation professionals, Ryanair has been refueling its aircrafts with the minimum amount of kerosene needed.
This does indeed save money but European regulations state that aircrafts must be equipped with more fuel than needed, in case it has to fly 30-45 minutes more in case of unforeseen circumstances and land on another airport. For cost reasons, it seems that Ryanair does not respect this rule.
According to a report released by Sunday Times in August, Ryanair pilots must abide by a maximum limit of 300kg of extra fuel, which costs £180 (€227). This amount of fuel means 4 minutes of extra flight. Captains have a legal duty to anticipate needs of extra-fuel, in case of heavy wind or storms and request more fuel; the company insists that such situations should be the “exception”.
Spanish pilots through the SEPLA (Sindicato Espanol de Pilotos de Lineas Aereas) requested systematic checking of Ryanair’s flights that land or take off from Spain in order to ensure they comply with European rules.
Should airline risks passenger’s safety just to save a few euros?
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Nov 24th, 2009
[...] Is flying with Ryanair dangerous? and Spanish pilots complain about Ryanair fuel saving practices [...]
Roman
Nov 24th, 2009
I found the letter sent by the Sindicato Espanol de Pilotos de Lineas Aereas
Fuel pratice is only a small part of what they are complaining!
http://www.scribd.com/doc/22704829/ryanair-spain-unions-EN-SP
roman
Nov 24th, 2009
Is flying with Ryanair dangerous? @airlinepost http://tinyurl.com/ygtyswh
Andy
Feb 21st, 2010
the author has made a serious mistake in this article.
Are you really suggesting that Ryanair have only 4 minutes extra fuel?
This would not ever cover a missed approach or unexpected wind. Dontt believe everything you read or are told.
Dave
Feb 21st, 2010
Do you have information that would prove otherwise?
Roman
Feb 24th, 2010
To answer to Andy,
The article is based on Sunday times article and an official letter from the Sindicato Espanol de Pilotos de Lineas Aereas.
I could undertand that you are questionning but if you even can’t trust two officials and serious sources, you have to give us the proof of what you advance.
The Truth
Mar 23rd, 2010
Are you really suggesting that Ryanair carry 4 extra minutes of fuel? I suggest you read up on your European aviation rules before talking such nonsense. You are just showing your bias again.
For the record, Ryanair and other are subject to SAFA random inspections to check for all sorts of regulations.
You are showing yourselves up as clowns!
Henry
Jun 7th, 2010
I’ll start with this = I am a Pilot with Ryanair, I hold allegiance to the company other than being grateful to receive my pay. However I find this article beyond ridiculous. The inference that Ryanair are disobeying the regulations are absurd, as is the statement that they are endangering the public by limiting the Captains discretionary fuel reserves (they are not). While the management may disgruntle employees in other ways, safety is not compromised at Ryanair, if I thought it was, I (and I hope the entirety of my colleagues) would simply not take off. To clarify the rules of carrying additional fuel – you must carry – the fuel required the fly the route + an extra 5% + fuel for start up and taxi + enough fuel to divert to farthest of 2 alternate airfields + enough for 30 minutes holding + any additional fuel the Captain sees fit. Hardly running on fumes