I have increasingly disliked my visits to the airports over the last decade or so. It used to mean something when you went to an airport, it was an “experience” it was something to talk about in a positive manner even if you were delayed you were after all always looked after like a VIP.
One of my earliest flights was a flight from East Midlands airport to Alicante on the Costa Blanca in Spain during the early 80’s I remember I so well because of the delay to our two week holiday in Torrevieja it was 18 hours but far from being the disaster from hell of a start to our holiday it was a great start.
A Fleet of busses arrived to take us all away for a dinner and entertainment at the Commodore Nightclub and I mean a fleet we were obviously not flying in the same plane surely? There were at least ten coaches.
We had a great evening with a 3 course meal and live entertainment and they finished up with a rendition of Y Viva Espana and we were on our way back to the airport all excited and looking forward to some real Spanish hospitality. I would have to say that all the food and drink we consumed had not cost us a penny so we were very happy.
We arrived back at the airport only to be told that our flight still had those wonderful technical problems and would not now be leaving until the next day and we were scheduled to leave at about 1pm. Only living a short distance away we rang up for a lift back home everyone else was issued with vouchers to eat and drink the night away along with blankets and pillows so they could get their heads down.
The next day we arrived back at the airport and went through to departures one again and saw the same faces from the night before and it did look like we were all going on the same plane which seemed odd as there must have been 350 or more people and I never saw a big plane like a Jumbo ever land at East Midlands for passengers before.
At about 12 Midday a DC10 Cal Air landed and we realized that we were indeed all going on the one plane and now for sure that we were going we were looking forward to our holiday. There was even a photographer taking pictures of us all getting on the plane and on our return we were able to get our pictures as a souvenir.
How times have changed in such a short time can anyone ever imagine that Ryanair would look after their passengers like this? These were the days when you could get a flight with companies like City Jet, Jersey European, British Midland or indeed British Airways or Aer Lingus & enjoy all the same courtesy from both the staff on the ground as well as in the air.
It was a pleasure to fly, for those that didn’t have to travel by air as I did to get around it was a treat, something they looked forward too and talked about when they got home. Now it is the part of their holiday they want to get over, to get it out of the way, to actually have their flight to ensure that they will indeed enjoy the reason they booked to fly in the first place as none of these things are now certain with the advent of budget (couldn’t care less) airlines.
I have had so many horror stories about flying with Ryanair and the likes of BMI Baby that you would need a volume to record them, from flights that were cancelled, delayed for reasons that I never did find out or the old chestnut ATC delays over France earlier in the day.
The Friday night flights out of Cork airport were delayed every single week and you got the same old guff from the crew, they forget some people actually make these flights every single weekend.
I had the same issues with flights from Shannon, Dublin or Cork and then again back from East Midlands or Birmingham the crews are after 3 things getting you on as fast as they can taking your money for beverages as fast as they can and getting you off again as fast as they can. If you’re served a drink last, don’t have tea as the water will now only warm.
When you come to board your flight you are as well to go to Boots for a meal deal as you get a sandwich that is many times superior to the one on the flight, you get a 500ml drink instead of a tiny little can and as a bonus you get a bag of crisps. Take note however you need to get it all into your one online bag at the boarding gate as a snotty member of the Ryanair crew will take it from you if you cannot.
I once made a mistake of taking a bus from Toronto to New York just for the experience and to see the countryside. I made two mistakes I hadn’t thought about the fact the bus travelled through the night so I saw nothing and when I arrived at Buffalo the border Police or guards or whatever they are called were the rudest most ignorant bunch of power mad people I have ever come across.
If this was what New York was going to be like I couldn’t wait to get back to Toronto. Only ever having been to Florida before I had only come across nice Americans, these were Power Mad thugs treating us all like sheep and this is how I now equate travelling with Ryanair. It is something you hope to get over as soon as you can and you travel without insurance at your peril.
Ryanair has used its race to the bottom policy to take over as many routes as possible so that become the major player in the airports that they run into and then try to use their leverage to get better deals than anyone else and use that additional leverage to lever out of the way any opposition. How many bags per 1000 passengers does Ryanair carry and then how many from that list does it lose? It doesn’t carry many bags so it can’t lose what it doesn’t have, can it?
I now have to go to Australia to get back to enjoying flying again but unfortunately I have to take a budget airline first Heathrow, Manchester or Amsterdam. If only we could roll back the clock and enjoy the 80’s once again!
