Aer Lingus v Ryanair...Inflight service.

Muggy Dev

Got a chance recently to sample the service of Ryanair on their Fuerteventura to Dublin route.I normally take the shamrock out of Lanzarote and both flights are about four hours long.Interestingly,the Ryanair CC,who were courtious,attentive and friendly,pushed the drinks trolley down the aisle three times to serve,once for duty free and once for the pre-decent clean up.Five times in all and that doesn´t include the sale of lottery tickets.EI push the trolley only once to serve and only do so when the aircraft is at cruise alltitude.

Ryanair did a roaring trade on board and at a time when most airlines are looking for ways to increase their revenues,why the hell doesn´t EI do likewise?

S.O.P.´s? Restrictive practices ?

Four hours is long time to nurse one "bloody mary"!:(

highlydebased

The impression that joe public has about Ryanair is that they are rude, inattentive, and a waste of time- I'm glad that you have discovered that is not the case

Aer Lingus seem to think that only one service is "enough"- and that pax want to be left alone on flights.....how wrong they are!!

RYR are often very better than EI on alot of routes, even the long hops to the canaries.

ImDave

Ryanair's in-flight service is better mostly because they have to sell as much stuff as possible to boost ancillary revenues which is where Ryanair make a very substantial portiion of their revenue. For example, the average fare with Ryanair is €43.30. The average revenue per pax is €53.70. That additional €10.40 is generated from ancillary products such as on-board food and shopping. Of that €10.40, it has an unbelievably higher profit margin than the fare.

That said, the sterotype about Ryanair cabin crew is kind of unfair. I have found many unhappy faces on board EI over the years aswell!

Muggy Dev

EI-DAV wrote: »

it has an unbelievably higher profit margin than the fare.

...agreed! So why doesn´t EI push for more revenue in-flight?

Goodshape

Out of interest, where does the acronym EI come from? (a Google search for EI returns Aer Lingus up top, so I assume you haven't just made a mistake )

Personally anyway I do prefer to be left alone on flights. Wouldn't say Ryanair CC are discourteous - but the constant bombardment of advertisements (via the intercom and themselves with trollys) does get very annoying imho.

Is there not an button you can press for attention? If you did so and asked for a drink, would they bring you one (on 'EI')?

I don't think I've been on a flight longer than a couple of hours for many a year, but I've never really felt the need to drink or purchase anything on board. I'd prefer they shut the **** up and get out of my face, personally

spurious

Goodshape wrote: »

Out of interest, where does the acronym EI come from? (a Google search for EI returns Aer Lingus up top, so I assume you haven't just made a mistake )

EI is the IATA airline code for Aer Lingus, Ryanair is FR.

Steyr

EI-DAV wrote: »

That said, the sterotype about Ryanair cabin crew is kind of unfair. I have found many unhappy faces on board EI over the years aswell!

Here here! Well said, i really enjoyed both my trips from EINN/EGGD EGGD/EINN, great bunch of people and couldnt do enough for me!

Davidth88

By and large the in-flight service is ' much of a muchness '

I still enjoy the EI Breakfast ( I am usually on expences ) but notice they have now put this up to 9 euro ( was 8 until last month ). At 8 euro it was better value than the pure ' muck' you get in the restaurant at DUB which has to be the most horrible place on earth ( upstairs ).

Fratton Fred

Davidth88 wrote: »

By and large the in-flight service is ' much of a muchness '

I still enjoy the EI Breakfast ( I am usually on expences ) but notice they have now put this up to 9 euro ( was 8 until last month ). At 8 euro it was better value than the pure ' muck' you get in the restaurant at DUB which has to be the most horrible place on earth ( upstairs ).

quite possibly the best meal i have ever had on a plane. Or maybe its just that by the time i get to eat mine i could eat a horse between two slices of bread

I fly between Dublin and London using FR/EI and BD and to be honest, breakfast apart, there is nothing to choose between them in terms of service. Ryanair did have a BOGOF on their sachets of Gin which made them the leader for a while though.

BMI seem to have employed some very miserable cabin crew for some reason, they seem to have lost the ability to smile.

hunter164

I prefer Ryanair crew than Aer Lingus.Ryanair just seem more courteous and helpful compared to the Aer Lingus crew.

Goodshape

spurious wrote: »

EI is the IATA airline code for Aer Lingus, Ryanair is FR.

I was just about to question why everyone's using airline code abbreviation all of a sudden... but I suppose we are in the Aviation forum :-/

Still, seems a little unnecessary. I've had to Google pretty much all these terms. FR, EI, IATA, EINN, EGGD... They're not exactly obvious.


Back on topic (slightly) - I got that Aer Lingus breakfast once. Yummy stuff indeed.

OPENROAD

bmi crew/service still head and shoulders above Aer Lingus/Ryanair. And still free food/drink for some in Economy

Davidth88

I was commuting between London and Dublin for about 9 months in 2001/2, I always used BMI them because they usually worked out much cheaper than EI
( FR was not an option I lived in West London ).
The flight crews then were very friendly, however I have flown BMI a couple of times recently and it seems they have had their ' friendship chip ' removed. Interestingly I flew with them to Jersey from LHR and they were great , maybe it's the unearthly hour I am usually flying
Also BMI now work out much more expensive then EI even if you take into account the silly ' bag tax '. ( I have no loyalty and always check both )

OPENROAD

Davidth88 wrote: »

I was commuting between London and Dublin for about 9 months in 2001/2, I always used BMI them because they usually worked out much cheaper than EI
( FR was not an option I lived in West London ).
The flight crews then were very friendly, however I have flown BMI a couple of times recently and it seems they have had their ' friendship chip ' removed. Interestingly I flew with them to Jersey from LHR and they were great , maybe it's the unearthly hour I am usually flying
Also BMI now work out much more expensive then EI even if you take into account the silly ' bag tax '. ( I have no loyalty and always check both )

I think the price does depend on when you book and always an element of luck involved, I am bmi loyal for lounge access and free food and drink on board but for me over the course of the year bmi still works out cheaper. With regards the crew, haven't say I experienced anything negative as said quite the opposite,they still seem to go that extra bit to make your flight, but again I suppose that is just my experience and my flights are normally late afternoon/night.

Will be very interested to see will bmi still exist as we know it in a couple of years with the likely takeover, I really really hope so.

flanzer

Ryanair cabin crew also get commission on what they sell on board..hence the numerous trips up and down the aisle

LiamD

Air stewards in general are very hit and miss these days. I've had a few rude ones on EI, but never any notably rude cabin staff with FR. FR's checkin staff are a totally different thing altogether. I know MOL has them trying to find any excuse to charge you, but they could at least do it with a smile

Tom Dunne

I find there are a considerable number of matronly Aer Lingus Cabin Crew, most notably on the US routes. A pet hate with me is the obsession with putting down the window blinds on the aircraft when the movie starts, in broad daylight. It's hard enough to deal with jetlag without that.

I have never had a problem with Ryanair cc, perhaps the Aer Lingus crowd could take a few lessons from them.

brettmirl

Very small thing I noticed flying between Ryanair/BMI/EI on the Dublin London route...EI and FR cabin crew slam down the over head bin doors whereas the BMI staff always clip the closed quietly.

I've always found the crew on Ryanair flights to be great, never had a problem. However the Aer Lingus crews seems to be getting worse. I had three transatlantic flights with them last year and they were woeful. On one of the flights, they 'forgot' to serve breakfast.