Ryanair Ultimatum

[Elfin]

"Ryanair has issued the government with a seven-day ultimatum to restore airport security measures to normal or risk being sued for compensation." BBC News

What do you think to that then? Perhaps Mr O'Leary would like to swap liabilities with the government and take full responsibility for UK aviation security. Then he can keep us happy and secure in the knowledge that his business is running ok. Like we give a sh*t.

[mushroom25]

The government has increased airport security requirements at airports in response to the threat to aviation, but nobody seems willing and/or able to resource the airports properly to accommodate the new requirements, ie who will pay.

For Mr O'Leary to carry out his threat probably isn't the way forward & he may well know that, but his ultimatum might just get the airports, airlines and the security services to think about it. The only alternative will be to get used to spending hours hanging around in airport queues.

[buildersmate]

I don't Mr O'Leary is fussed about how long we wait in the airport. His only interest is keeping his planes in the air for about 11 hours per day, because his business model with thin margins means he is making a whacking great loss at the moment. That model is driven by avoiding cancellations of his schedule of flights - which isn't (necessarily) the same thing as long airport delays for passengers. He's trying to shift the (financial) risk back to the airport operators, who have been put in that position by the Government requirement for extra checks.

[violetblue]

I don;t care about Ryanair's profits, only about security, so Ryanair can go out of business for me, if they are prepared to jeopardise business over security issues.

NB There may well be a few Ryanair/Easyjet customers chuckling to think of the businesses having a headache, rather than the poor old customer who has to put up with their shoddy 'services'.

[mushroom25]

you may not care about Ryanair or their profit margins, and you may well be pleased if they suffer financial loss.

..... but you'd notice the difference if they, and their kind, were no longer there. A large incentive for other operators to offer budget fares would be gone for one thing.

[violetblue]

If they prefer to choose profits over security noone is safe to fly with them. That was my point.

[yigoh]

Oi tink mr o'leary is an eejit !

[Gef]

My initial reaction is to agree with Ryanair. Why all the disruption? Prior to the threat every piece of baggage and every passenger was subject to security checks. What's the difference now and why should it take much longer? Apart from the restrictions on carry-on luggage (which was still subject to security checks) I can see no difference. Are the Government saying that previous security checks were lax?

[Big Al1st]

HI, I think the airports are in a no win situation. They either increase security in line with the perceived threat, or carry on as normal when the threat level is high and hope they dont get a plane blown up.

I have no sympathy with Ryannair. I have had a couple of run ins with them which cost me money.

I was also amazed that the turn round time for their planes is 25 minutes. No wonder they are losing money.
Finally I just hope that the intelligence was right this time. If not Ryannair and the other airlines and airports will be seeking massive compensation

[Elfin]

No it's because Ryanair rely on passengers taking most of their luggage into the cabin rather than putting it in the hold. This makes airport turnaround times quicker, which is part of his business model.

He's also demanding bodysearching on a 1 in 4 basis, rather than the current 1 in 2 requirement.

Just thinking what they'd say if O'Leary was just starting out and went into the Dragon's Den with his business idea - low cost airline, hardly any hold baggage, quick airport turnaround...

[saxy_jag]

I don't think the man's doing himself any favours. Ryanair are hardly the most well-thought-of company in the industry as it is. Everyone else has buckled to and got on with this little crisis whilst he's behaving like a spoilt child who's had his ball confiscated.

[ianess]

Mr O'Leary knows that he doesn't have a snowball's chance in Hadies of getting our so-called Government to stop generating fear and panic amongst the population.
What's next? A ban on toothpaste, shampoo, or even milk cartons on London's buses in case some other idiot tries to blow one up?
Get real, calm down, and lighten up for God's sake.
If El Al can operate normally surely the likes of Ryanair and BA will be able to cope.
Just out of interest how many actual terrorist attempts have occured in the UK this decade, and how many successful convictions have there been?

[Llamatron]

I kind of agree with Ryanair. But then I wouldn't trust this government as far as I could throw John Prescott.

Here's an interesting article talking about the explosive liquid that was supposed to be causing death and destruction:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/17/flying _toilet_terror_labs

[THAIBUS]

Does anyone still fly with Ryanair anyway ? I used them once and that was enough.

[jno]

I think there are still grounds for suspicion about the whole 'plot'. Of course there are regular police leaks about damning evidence they've found... but let's see if they ever make it to court. As far as I'm concerned, with the track record of our intelligence services, they may just have uncovered a conventon of Brazilian plumbers. And while John Reid insists they've uncovered four major plots in the past, how come nobody's ever been charged over any of them?

As for Ryanair.... well, the authorities announced (a) that they'd got all the suspects and (b) that the country was going onto the highest level of alert, for 'terrorist attack imminent'. How can both of these be correct at the same time? Maybe there's a logical explanation; but I wouldn't actually mind seeing Mr O'Ryanair forcing the government to produce it in court. Don't want to use his airline, though.

[Whickerman]

Thing is, it's not just Ryanair - flights from a helluva lot of carriers have been cancelled. Don't forget, BA has lost a fortune in freight carriage alone.

[jenstar]

How about not worrying about Ryanair skimping on security and instead worry about them skimping on mechnical safety checks to the plane itself? That's where the real threat to passengers' lives lies.

[Playbill]

I rarely fly, but have taken friends and family to and from airports many times. From what I have seen, heard of from others and read in the papers, Ryanair would be my last choice to fly with.

[mash]

I think Mr O'Leary should shut up and let the government manage the situation on the basis they they are in the best position too judge what is best for everyones safety.
All Mr O'Leary os bother about is money. You release this the minute you take a Ryanair flight.
After Ryanairs recent baggage policy changes to make even more profit i'm quite pleased recent events have left his company in a mess, now he feels pi**ed off like his customers do most of the time!