After three 'mayday calls' at one Spanish airport in July, Ryanair has been called before Spain's civil aviation authority to answer questions about the airline's practice of carrying insufficient fuel on its planes, according to a short piece on the Euronews website: Ryanair investigated over Spain emergency landings.
To put these mayday calls into perspective, the Belfast Telegraph quotes a pilot who says, "In my 23 years as a pilot I never made a mayday call, most pilots would expect to get through their entire career without ever having to make a mayday call".
This is not the first time Ryanair has been in the news for this safety issue. I blogged about it almost four years ago: Ryanair Restricts Pilots' Right to Emergency Fuel.
Associated Press is reporting (Ryanair is pressuring pilots on kerosene: union) that a pilots' union, Vereinigung Cockpit, is accusing Ryanair of putting pressure on pilots to carry less fuel in an attempt to cut costs, a fact denied by Ryanair.
Do you feel safe flying with Ryanair in the light of these revelations? Or do you think the airline is right to cut costs in this way? Leave your comments below.
See also:
- Ryanair Charges and How to Avoid Them
- How Strict is Ryanair's Hand Baggage Allowance?
- Ryanair "operating on the very limits of legality"
It’s probably fine. Ryanair will probaly never crash. But maybe they will – what would happen then.
Is it a risk worth taking? I’d rather pay 10 pounds more and get peace of mind.
So, you think if you pay more for a ticket you’re safer??
Remember the BA 777 that crashed in Heathrow? Or the AirFrance over the south Atlantic? And all the other NON-low cost companies.
You may not like the way Ryanair do their business (i certainly don’t) but don’t think/say the pilots are at fault- they work under the hardest conditions of any European airline, they do their (hard ) job well. It’s why Ryanair has one of the best safety records (better than BA/AirFrance /Iberia etc).
So pay your 10 pounds/euros extra if you want your (false) sense of security!
{you shouldn’t comment when you have no idea what you’re talking about}
We flew Ryanair a couple of times so nothing surprises me. After being treated like crap both times, (same trip) we haven’t been back. EasyJet is far superior. Ryanair will crash and burn – figuratively if not literally.
Unfortunately the writer of this article has always had it in for Ryanair always looking for negatives. I have flown many times with Ryanair and so long as you know the rules and travel accordingly it is never a peroblem. In my experience Ryanair “go over the top” as far as passenger safety is concerned and it should be noted in all 3 cases the aircraft were on a holding pattern for well over an hour because of Spanish airport problems at Madrid and when they landed they still had more than the mininum amout of fuel required for landing pruposes.
I reckon any airline could get caught out in a similar situation.
I missed a RyanAir flight due to delays on the train and they shut the gates and would not let us in even though we had our etickets and hand luggage only! their response, pay for the next flight out £100, never mind you have already paid for one of their bleedin tickets, Ryanir Stinks, really, but their no frills prices, are a temptation to buy, we should resist the temptation and fly other airlines but we always choose the budget airline even if their service is crap!
If you had taken an earlier train or what ever youd have plenty of time getting on the flight its ur fault and only your fault that you come to late to your flight.
I almost missed a ryanair flight because security took so long, (my fault I know) when i ran to the gate it had just closed and the girl radiod down to the plane and I got on just as they closed the doors,
I have never had a problem with ryanair as i stick to the rules they have ( comfy planes and on time as well)