New Ryanair plane on way

That's the second one this week - the other one also went to SNN.

They've always been flown by Ryanair crews. Is there such a thing as "Boeing delivery pilots"?

How many pilots would be on board, 3?

You'd better pretty much give up on flying Ryanair then, that's all I've been on for the last while with them.

And do you really think the flight crew would be happily flying them all over the place if there was still a risk? (I know there's always a risk, there's a risk if you step outside your front door - but the software/computer glitch that caused those crashes has been fixed, presumably to all the professionals' satisfaction)

I think they have the issue sorted now and pilots are well aware of the past issues.... It's a pity so many people had to lose their lives over the mess Boeing handed them in the beginning. Down right criminal.

Sorry. It I’ve been on them many times and yet to have an issue.

No offence, but adopting your attitude will mean nobody flies.

Ryanair fly plenty of medium-length routes - Dublin to the Canaries and return is an obvious example - so a single direct flight of nine hours or so is no longer in terms of crew duty times. Earlier types weren't capable of such non-stop delivery flights but it's no longer anything dramatic. Virtually all of Ryanair's 737-800s and all of their MAXes have been flown directly from Seattle to Ireland - that's several hundred aircraft at this stage.

Your putting your life in the pilot's hands just like every other plane.

I was flying on a Max to Murcia last week. First time the plane was used. There was no food, drink or even water available on the plane for our flight.

The staff just sat around for the duration. The staff area at the top of the plane is so tight that they spent their time just standing beside the toilet and exit door.

I have flown three times on the Max now and to be honest I prefer the older planes. On the older planes the seats are more comfortable. Also the air thing above your head is very weak on the Max, very little cool air.

Row two on the Max (door side) is also classed as an emergency exit seat, so you can't have your second carry on bag at your feet, it has to go in to the locker.

I was sitting in Row two A which has no seat in front of it, which was great.

When booking my seats I now avoid Row two on the Max because of the issue of not allowing you to have your second bag available to you on take off and landing.

I know a Ryanair pilot and he has being doing those delivery flights for years.

He goes to Seattle and either does the 'Delivery Flight', or he goes there a few days early to do the 'Acceptance Flight' and then the 'Delivery Flight. The acceptance flight has one Ryanair Pilot, a Boeing Pilot and a Boeing Engineer in the jump seat. They do tests that you would not normally do (check the stick shaker, shut down one engine in flight and depressurize the cabin). The Ryanair pilot needs a specific 'test rating' on his/her license. For the delivery flight you just need to have done a few of them previously 'under supervision'. The aircraft has to be fitted with a HF radio for transocean comms, and this is removed when it arrives at base. Only 2 pilots on board. They normally leave in the evening U.S. time and fly through the night and arrive early morning in Dublin. Aircraft then needs some minor mods before it is put into revenue service.

Normally makes it to Dublin in one go. Once he had to drop into (don't know if it was Greenland or Iceland!) for fuel as they had strong headwinds all the way.

They normally arrive in Ireland mid-afternoon, given the time zone difference between Seattle and here. Last couple of deliveries have routed to Shannon and now that Ryanair have their own hangar there, maybe that's going to be the norm from now on.

I remember going to London quite a few times in the early 80s. i was earning about 40 quid a week. The best airfare was about 170-180 return and had to include a saturday night overnight . The daytime ferry and train was 55 and the nighttime was 45 . As a result i became quite familiar with Crewe railway station around 3-4am

I met Michael O'Leary once and was only short of kissing his feet . Since Ryanair really embraced low fares in the mid 90s i have seen many parts of Europe that i might only have dreamt about years before. I can visit my cousin near London for a day trip and spend more on my Dublin airport car parking than on my return airfare

so if there isnt any fancy cabin service on board Ryanair flights, no problem with me as i havent paid for it as i would have had to with Aer Lingus or similar , whether i wanted to or not

The added value of Ryanair is that when they launch a route, the exiting monopoly/duopoly flyer typically then reduces their fares to compete. So all flyers benefit.

Except those that would rather pay more for a higher standard of service.

If there was a market for people looking to pay more for a higher standard of service then the old legacy carriers would still be operating charging the guts of a grand today one way to London.