October 16, 2005

Leading the Blind off the Plane

It is one of the most disgusting things I have heard about in a long time. Ryanair is a cheap airline. Really cheap.

Ryanair doesn't like disabled customers. Thursday,evening nine blind passengers were seated on a Ryanair jet at Stanstead, waiting to depart for Italy. Unfortunately, the airline allows a maximum of four disabled people on each flight. The crip quota had been met already, so the nine blind people were forced off the plane.

They were herded back to the departure lounge. They were gven no accommodation, no money for food, and some of them had to sleep on the floor.

Ryanair attempted to blame it on safety regulations. The Irish Aviation Authority said there was nothing contrary to the regulations in carrying those passengers. No other airline has a limit on the number of disabled people on any flight.

Ryanair also charges them extra. Since they don't use those fancy jetways, because its cheaper to stick to the stairs out on the tarmac for access to the fusilage, they were charging £36 for the use of a wheelchair to reach the plane. They did that until they were sued for discrimination and lost.

I hope these nine people sue Ryanair. I hope a court awards more than the £1300 compensation Bob Ross got for his wheelchair incident. And I don't think I will fly Ryanair any time soon.

Posted by david at October 16, 2005 01:17 AM
Comments

That is just despicable. Geesh. I thought that kind of stuff was against the law?

Posted by: Philippa at October 18, 2005 12:30 AM

What does anyone expect for £1 a flight?

If you want service, fly British Airways.

You get what you pay for - this is not a secret.

Posted by: Andrew Duffin at October 20, 2005 09:21 AM

But if you pay for a seat, you don't expect to be pulled off the plane because you have a disability and forced to sleep in the waiting area. If you have contracted for a service at whatever price, you have an expectation to receive that service.

That is entirely setting aside Ryanair's moral obligation to ensure that it takes makes adequate provision for those who are disabled. Or at the very least it should advertise plainly: "Disabled people not welcome!" or "We have a quota of four disabled people per flight. It is YOUR responsibility to make sure we have not exceeded the quota. Otherwise you will be removed from the aircraft AT YOUR OWN EXPENSE."

Posted by: Dave at October 20, 2005 10:10 AM

It states quite clearly on the ryanair website that they only take 4 at a time! They should have had the common sense to find out whether it would be a problem. It is also plain selfish of those 9 people to complain when ryanair are merely looking out for everyone elses safety. In the event of an accident where everyone is evacuating, if there are only staff to help a max. of 4 disabled what would have happened to the other 5 people? It would have potentially worsened the situation and may have cost lives! It is for safety reasons, not any kind of discrimination that airlines impose such rules. I am a pilot on charter flights and there are similar laws governing us which state we may only take as many disabled passengers as there are crew members to help them get on and off! People must consider the real reason airlines have these rules, and not just jump at the chance to get self righteous and make a few quid going to court!

Posted by: Rebecca at October 21, 2005 03:03 PM

Is that the Braille version of the website? These people are blind, for goodness sake!

Ryanair is the only airline to be so safety conscious that only staff could be trusted to help another person off the plane? Irish and European regulators said this was a load of poo. British Airways said that their only requirement is that they have at least as many able-bodied passengers as disabled.

And I suppose it was Ryanair's selfless love and compassion which led them to charge Bob Ross £36 for the use of a wheelchair from the terminal across to the plane.

Posted by: Dave at October 21, 2005 03:53 PM