Ryan air story

[me]

www.iht.com/bin/print_ipub.php?file=/articles/2005/01/06/style/flying.html

a less than enthusiastic story.

[Kim]

I'd still rather do that than suffer through a 12 hour night train any time though!!

Kim

[jennifer]

Oh so would I!
I mean, ok it sucks to be delayed, but isn't that the "fun" of travel?
I dunno, but I always arrive in the city I depart out of a few days early, just to make sure I have NO chance of being late for my flight home. So even if Ryanair were to bring me to my departure city, if it gets delayed even a day, i'm still in the city on time to catch my EXPENSIVE flight home with a normal carrier!
xoxo
Jen

[MuvverRussia]

I'm not a huge fan of Ryanair. Personally, I'd rather fly Easyjet or BMIbaby as they at least use half decent airports (Oslo Torp is nothing more than a shed with a ridiculously overpriced café. It's also over 2hrs from Oslo).

Also budget airlines in general can be ridiculously expensive. Last year I was looking at peak summer flights from Heathrow to Barcelona - Easyjet wanted almost £200 each whilst BA only wanted £160 each. Needless to say I ended up flying BA.

[Libby]

I have a very real fear of flying and avoid value priced carriers like the plaque.

What's Ryan Air like for safety? That would be my major concern, moreso than being on time.

What's BMI like? I will be flying with them.

[WillTravel]

BMI had its last fatality in the 1980s, I believe.

Ryanair was not around in the 1980s, so it is not really a fair comparison, but Ryanair has never had a fatality. Its planes are serviced by the same contractor that services Lufthansa planes.

Commercial aviation in First World countries is so safe nowadays (barring terrorist attacks) that I do not think it really matters which you fly.

One advantage of BMI - they give you a bit of food and drink included in the price of the ticket. And you have an assigned seat. But EasyJet, BMI, Ryanair - it really does not matter in the slightest to me. I just go with whatever is the best combination of convenience and price. So I have flown all three without any problems.

[me]

another of my favorite quotes relates to "Three kinds of lies: Lies, damn lies, and statistics." before the Paris crash which ended its flights, the Concord was, statistically, the worlds safest plane. it'd *never* had a fatality. [but, after that crash, it instantly became the worlds most dangerous, statistically]

Southwest, the granddaddy of budget airlines, had it's 1st fatal crash not too long ago. some thought, having never had one, they'd have troubles when that 1st one happened, but the staff reacted as well as any airline's staff.

- d

[Libby]

I'm just a bad flyer. Terrified.

Living where so close to a major plane crash didn't help. It's an experience I never want to repeat.

[LHR02]

Are you near the Gander crash? That was my husbands company...A/3rd 502nd returning from Sanai on that plane.

[me]

i've had some very pleasant night train rides. i've also had some that were awful. it's hit or miss,

Kim said:

I'd still rather do that than suffer through a 12 hour night train any time though!!

[Libby]

Dustoff,
No, I've been to the crash site at Gander to see the memorial and I'm old enough to remember that crash, but I don't live anywhere near that town.

The crash I was talking about was SwissAir 111. I was living in Halifax at the time and I can't get some of the images out of my head. Some family members of crash victims were given teddy bears when they arrived and you would see people all over town holding the bears. I can't forget the radio and television broadcasts either. Telling people to stay away from the beaches and to contact the Department of Transportation if you found any "items".

[rocklit]

David,

I'm curious to know what flight that was. I have an irrational fear of flying, and before I flew for the first time a few months ago, I researched Southwest, and I found that there were never any fatalities. Airsafe.com indicates this.

~Jody

me said:

another of my favorite quotes relates to "Three kinds of lies: Lies, damn lies, and statistics." before the Paris crash which ended its flights, the Concord was, statistically, the worlds safest plane. it'd *never* had a fatality. [but, after that crash, it instantly became the worlds most dangerous, statistically]

Southwest, the granddaddy of budget airlines, had it's 1st fatal crash not too long ago. some thought, having never had one, they'd have troubles when that 1st one happened, but the staff reacted as well as any airline's staff.

- d

[me]

Jody,

i just plain missed the mark.

perhaps it was Southwest's first crash that i was thinking about? there was a "1st" of some kind a year or two back. at least a crash, i know; and i'd thought it had to be 1st fatal crash, since Southwest has been in the air as long as i can remember. [how could any airline fly so long w/o a crash?]

- d

[WillTravel]

Southwest had an incident where the plane slid off the runway in Burbank, but no fatalities and only minor injuries, about five years ago. www.cnn.com/2000/US/03/06/burbank.plane.02/
That's the only incident I remember.
If you want to worry, the Korean and Chinese airlines are a bit problematic, although they are overwhelmingly safe still. But they have had proportionately more recent fatalities than North American and European airlines (other than 9/11). All bets are off if you start taking private planes anywhere. African aviation has a ways to go also. Statistically, there is no reason to worry about North American and European airlines of any sort.

[me]

thanks for clearing that up, WillTravel!

- d