Descripción textual de los Casos de Uso de Negocio

Operationally speaking, Ryanair’s in-flight safety policy is “on par with all the other airlines”. This assertion has been made by the IAA, independent observers¹⁵⁰ and Ryanair itself, naturally.

Nevertheless, the media and politics continue haunting the airline on events which happened one year ago. How to explain this strange discrepancy?

Madrid flights: an infamous precedent

At the core of the safety claims against Ryanair, there were the infamous incidents of Valencia where three planes issued May Day calls, a serious call in the aviation industry. Declaring fuel emergency constitutes an incident itself, which can be at the origin of an investigation. However, before the Valencia incidents, there have been numerous incidents¹⁵¹ which could be related to fuel emergencies. One May Day call in 2010 at Alicante resulted in a report of the CIAIAC¹⁵², the Spanish Aviation Authority. This report clearly questioned the safety policy of Ryanair, especially when it came to its fuel policy. It was afraid, among other things, that Ryanair’s fuel policy could become a

38 standard in the airline industry¹⁵³, thus posing a genuine risk of crash of an airline all the more if May Day fuels were to be declared in congested airports.

Despite both IAA and CIAIAC demanding Ryanair to change its fuel policy, the Irish carrier still demanded a priority landing due to lack of fuel in Budapest four months later ¹⁵⁴, an incident which could have degenerated into another fuel emergency. This incident suggested that the airline didn’t change its fuel policy at the time. In total, there were about four incidents due to fuel shortage in two years, which remains a high score even for the profession’s standards.

The Madrid case left a durable, powerful impact in the press, the media and the people’s minds. The fact that Ryanair never acknowledged the fact that its fuel policy could have been at a time a factor of risks hardly helped. Mr O’Leary’s insistence that the May Day calls were the results of standard procedures – when they remain serious aviation incidents – probably led into disbelief and lack of trust by the press.

Ryanair and its pilots: are the risks of human factors real?

Ryanair pilots, through the voice of the RPG, have made their concerns about their shying away from speaking up on safety¹⁵⁵. According to them, the airline imposed a “culture based on fear”¹⁵⁶, and the zero-hours contracts under which they operate do not allow them to voice their worries. Although Ryanair firmly denied these allegations, it is surprising that whenever a pilot dared speaking up openly, he was immediately dismissed. As John Goglia, a former member of the National Transportation Safety Board and a long-time accident investigator wrote in the magazine Forbes that this attitude could “have a chilling effect on employees raising safety concerns”¹⁵⁷.

Indeed, Ryanair’s strict and aggressive attitude towards Captain John Goss left some professionals dumbfounded. John Goglia believed that a better reaction would have been to respond with “the technical data to disprove the pilots’ claims”. Somehow, the insistence of Ryanair to conceal this technical data raises some doubts over their sincerity, all the more so because the company, through the voice of the CEO, had already advanced facts which were untrue: for example, they claimed for a long time that Ryanair pilots never experienced pressure¹⁵⁸ whereas leaked information from internal memos¹⁵⁹ clearly proved otherwise.

In those conditions, how to consider the risks of crash due to human factor advocated by the Ryanair Pilot Group? First, one has to bear in mind that a crash is the consequences of a combination of factors. Human factor are often at the centre of deadly accidents¹⁶⁰. Fatigue, sickness, stress can result in poor decision making which ultimately leads to a crash: such was the case for the crashes of Aloha Airlines Flight 243 in Maui, United Airlines Flight 173 in Portland, Avianca Flight 52 – one also has to consider that fuel shortage is a frequent cause of crashes in the airline industry: in a decade, five planes crashed due to lack of fuel.

Besides, a debate is currently on-going in EU on a possible increase of the flight time limitation (FTL)¹⁶¹. During this debate, doctors and scientists all advocated the dangers of fatigue and stress¹⁶². Therefore, if bullying practices, stress and fatigue as a result of zero-hours contracts were to be confirmed by evidence, it would be definite than Ryanair puts passengers’ safety at risk. However, as pilots who testified remained anonymous, there can be no proof that Ryanair applies a pressure which could lead into a lethal accident.

As for now, several incidents are being investigated, which might help determine whether Ryanair pilots’ stress or behaviour is imperilling or not¹⁶³.

39 About on-board safety: In 2011, indications of disregard of regulations on-board Ryanair planes have surfaced. It appears that some of Ryanair’s Boeing 737-800 are flying without all their carts¹⁶⁴, compromising the latching of carts stored in the galleys. It also appears that crews do not always use fire proof rubbish bags on carts and in the toilets, which could result in a potential fire hazard during a flight¹⁶⁵. It is unclear whether these are occasional occurrences or the result of systematic cost-cutting on part of the airline.

Ryanair and the erasure of black box

Ryanair has made it clear that it refused any defamation on its safety policy: the airline went as far as suing a forum to obtain the private details of users who criticize their safety on forums¹⁶⁶. However, this paranoia can lead the airline into taking drastic, controversial action. A recent report from the Swedish Accident Aviation Authority revealed that Ryanair went as far as deleting a black box¹⁶⁷ after an incident, and notified the said incident to the Swedish Accident Investigation Authority four calendar days later.

This attitude demonstrates an attempt to monitor and control anything safety-related which could be bad press for Ryanair, but also raise some questions about their sincerity and their transparency culture. Although the Accident Investigation Authority classified the landing as a serious incident¹⁶⁸, Ryanair’s spokesman Robin Kiely declared that their technical department “did not consider it necessary to preserve the recording”. A decision which isn’t theirs to make?

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Towards a new era: the new face of the aviation industry

According to Buddha, “Everything changes, nothing remains without change”. When Ryanair made its first steps on the European market, with its new rules and creative posture, it revolutionized the airline industry. But nothing stays still and we may be on the brink of something different.

Nowadays, Ryanair’s competitors have not only become effective, they also managed to do it without creating polemics. Prime Minister and official German Member of Parliament fly on easyJet.

Vueling is the most liked company in Spain. Meanwhile, majors have decided to strike back by hybridizing: British Airways offered in September tickets for £10 with luggage fees. Ryanair is no longer alone.

However, the airline, in order to fuel its skyrocket growth, made some detrimental sacrifices. As we’ve seen through this report, it arguably has one of the most controversial employment policies in Europe and is targeted by continual scandals and political upheaval. Its sacred triptych is challenged:

it can no longer afford to have its reputation stained, its fiscal structure is being investigated and it is legally threatened by multiple actors… even its punctuality is debated upon¹⁶⁹!

In the meantime, public authorities, top officials, European Union have taken initiatives to prevent certain practices which used to be fundamental to Ryanair: working policy, state aids from secondary airports, rise of taxes…

For the first time in two decades, Ryanair seems weakened. And yet, this downfall goes beyond the ultra-low-cost airline. It reflects the change that has been blowing over the whole European, short-haul industry, which has now become more competitive than ever.

Much like these major airlines CEO Michael O’Leary despises, is it now the time for Ryanair to adapt or die?

41 “Ryanair’s business model for 2013” © AirScoop.com LLC Available in French: November 2013 http://www.air-scoop.com/

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11 See Part II of the report: “2013, a pivotal year for Ryanair?”

12 http://noticias.companiaslowcost.com/20101221/compania-low-cost-ryanair-embolsa-80-millones-euros-subsidios-espana/

13 http://www.02b.com/es/notices/2013/06/easyjet_critica_las_subvenciones_directas_a_ryanair_6375.php

14 Ibid. “Part I.B- Turning costs into revenue” : http://www.air-scoop.com/pdf/Ryanair-business-model_Air-Scoop_2011.pdf

15 Ryanair Full Annual Report

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41 Some other budget airlines – easyJet, Vueling – have the same turnaround times than Ryanair’s.

42 http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-salvage-value.htm

62 P. Malighetti, s. Paleari, R. Redonbi, « Pricing strategies of low-cost airlines : The Ryanair case study », Journal of Air Transport Management, Vol. 15, 2009, pp. 195-203

63 Air Scoop, Ryanair’s business model in 2011: http://www.air-scoop.com/pdf/Ryanair-business-model_Air-Scoop_2011.pdf

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94 Netherhall Ltd Annual Report, Netherhall Ltd Exceptional Decision, Aviation Promotion (IOM) Ltd Annual Report.

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146 Labor relations could expose the company to risk, Annual Report 2013, p.48

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160 “The Human Factor in Aircraft Incidents” Antoni Andre Kepczynski

161 https://www.eurocockpit.be/pages/flight-time-limitations

162 See EASA’s scientific study, Moebus Aviation study, Dr. P. Cabon, Dr. A. Gundel and Dr. M. Spencer separate studies).

163 http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/384865/Ryanair-pilots-forgot-safety-procedures

http://www.elmundotoday.com/2013/09/un-piloto-de-ryanair-aterriza-de-emergencia-porque-mola-mas/

164 https://twitter.com/ryanairdontcare/status/374288557751291905 https://twitter.com/ryanairdontcare/status/374288557751291905

47 https://twitter.com/ryanairdontcare/status/374480540008583168

https://twitter.com/ryanairdontcare/status/374480664038363137 https://twitter.com/ryanairdontcare/status/374480935485308928 https://twitter.com/ryanairdontcare/status/374481068637696001 https://twitter.com/ryanairdontcare/status/374481219548762113 https://twitter.com/ryanairdontcare/status/374481395524968448 https://twitter.com/ryanairdontcare/status/374481509568098304

165 Ibid

166 http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/transport-and-tourism/ryanair-clips-wings-of-online-critics-1.1524279

167 http://www.havkom.se/virtupload/reports/RL2012_20.pdf

168 http://www.thelocal.se/49698/20130817/

169 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22659822