Ryanair: Abolish Co-Pilots To Save Cash

Ryanair: Abolish Co-Pilots To Save Cash

news.sky.com

Airline pilots have accused Ryanair's Michael O'Leary of endangering passengers' safety after he called for co-pilots to be replaced with air stewardesses.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Dismissing the vital role of second pilots, Mr O'Leary suggested money could be saved by getting rid of them all together.
If the pilot were to run into problems he suggested an air stewardess, trained to land the plane, could step in.

OK now this really is getting stupid, peoples lives will be put in danger... One stressed out possibly hung over pilot?

I could get on board with the idea of those half standing half sitting things for short hall, even charging to use the toilet and overly strict carry on rules to scrape the money out of passengers but this now really is dangerous... A trained stewardess to just jump into the seat for an emergency?

news.sky.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by Now_Then


This has been on the cards for years..

Soon it will be "pilotless" planes..

Profit rules over safety every time.

That's it, enough!

I'm gonna start taking a parachute with me as carry-on baggage. If the plane gets into trouble and there is not a qualified pilot on board to land it safely, then I'm outta there.

reply to post by Now_Then
[more
There's yer man O Leary at his windups again, He recently pulled his airline (Ryan Air) out of Belfast city airport, Because of a hissy fit at not getting his own way, Such a shame O leary, no more of your planes polluting the skies over Belfast.. Missed Not...

Originally posted by Now_Then
those half standing half sitting things for short hall

Are you talking about stewardesses here ?

Aren't there laws set out by the civil aviation authority that regulate this sort of thing ? I always co pilots were a neccessity not a luxury for commerical airliners ?

Guess what, Ryanair will save a lot of cash, because it won't exist.

Imagine being on a flight - the pilot flakes out, then you crash.

reply to post by Now_Then


Hi,

This is just O Leary at his worst - he makes stupid threats to gain publicity but then implements something slightly less stupid.

After the volcanic ash groundings he threatened not to refund any fares - until half of Europe told him he wouldn't be given any landing rights but meanwhile he introduced single cabin bag policy, charges for hold luggage charges for booking on-line, fines for not printing off boarding passes etc. etc.

Unfortunately I sometimes have to travel with his circus but it is certainly not out of choice.

Peace!

Originally posted by Discotech

Originally posted by Now_Then
those half standing half sitting things for short hall

Are you talking about stewardesses here ?

No that's these 'seats'....

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/82d150d19d4b.jpg[/atsimg]

As for the rules I have no idea, but I bet they (Ryan air) have figured out some loophole or something on that... I certainty would not be happy with a single pilot... What if he looses the plot? There have been occurrences where a pilot has deliberately tried to crash a jet liner as part of a suicide... The one I'm thinking of was the subject of one of those 'Seconds from disaster' type doco's, it was a cargo plane and the idea was that his family would get a huge payout... It was the co pilot and the engineer that beat him almost to death, very scary the dude almost pulled it off, they literally fought for their lives while flying a big old Boeing and landing it with a mad man in the cabin.

He can't (and won't) fly the B737 single pilot in European airspace anytime soon.

And in case that the captain should keel over it would be a bad idea to have the other pilot working back there in the pax cabin in these days of closed and locked cockpit doors.

As for the standing seats i don't get the point, it would hardly save any weight, and the B737-800 is limited to 189 pax due to the number of emergency exits.

[edit on 5-9-2010 by Ivar_Karlsen]

Like it or not air travel with out pilots is coming. I may see it for cargo planes in my time but probably not for passenger traffic.
As to the standing seats, the max number of passengers is a rule for the U.S., I do not know how it would affect other countries. I do know many countries do fly the same types of planes with greater loads.

Originally posted by RedGolemAs to the standing seats, the max number of passengers is a rule for the U.S., I do not know how it would affect other countries. I do know many countries do fly the same types of planes with greater loads.

Well i fly the B737-800 in EU and the rules are basicly the same.

We're a low cost company and operates the -800 in one class configuration with 189 seats at the moment (186 from november this year.) 189 pax is what it is certified for, can't stuff in more than that anyway.

Originally posted by Discotech

Originally posted by Now_Then
those half standing half sitting things for short hall

Are you talking about stewardesses here ?

Aren't there laws set out by the civil aviation authority that regulate this sort of thing ? I always co pilots were a neccessity not a luxury for commerical airliners ?

No such thing as stewardesses anymore, and there hasn't been for a LONG LONG time.
And, most airline employees know enough to fly a plane or land a plane if they are worth anything at all....
Larger planes can land themselves, with a slight amount of help.

reply to post by dnvrliz


They are flight attendants.

If the Flight attendants can be used as co-pilots they would most likely have to be paid the same salary. Having two jobs instead of one with twice the responsibility? I don't know if many attendants would volunteer for that stupidity!

Zindo

Forgive me if I'm getting this completely wrong, but aren't the actual pilots more of a backup now then anything and the autopilot can land and fly a route without much assistance from the pilot.

I remember watching a myth busters episode where they landed a plane (ok a simulation) on full autopilot, and were also able to land it manually with just directions from the control tower.

So the co pilot was once the back up for the pilot, but now the pilot is the back up for the auto pilot which then has an extra back up of a co pilot. It's turned what was once a double redundancy into a triple redundancy.
This is now leading to real world redundancy for copilots

As mentioned on the pprune forum, think outside the box. Perhaps the First Officer may be required to take on cabin crew duties, not the other way round? Aside from that, it's all publicity for Ryanair, though I am not sure whether it is a good idea to suggest, as the chief, that you care more about profits than safety.

www.pprune.org...

[edit on 5/9/2010 by DSSONE]

Originally posted by Ivar_Karlsen


We're a low cost company and operates the -800 in one class configuration with 189 seats at the moment (186 from november this year.) 189 pax is what it is certified for, can't stuff in more than that anyway.

I just did see some info one time that some companies were adding seats in excess of what the plane was certified for in the U.S. I don't know where it was happening but it was happening.

Originally posted by davespanners
Forgive me if I'm getting this completely wrong, but aren't the actual pilots more of a backup now then anything and the autopilot can land and fly a route without much assistance from the pilot.

What you said is basically right. Now on main routs in the U.S. planes fly reduced vertical separation minimums. That requires the plane to be using an auto pilot. So the plane is on auto pilot for most of the time on most flights in the U.S. Not that I have the data to back that up.

This comment made my head spin. How is it plausible to remove a second pilot and appoint stewardess to fly planes? This either is a horrible joke or the CEO has gone complete retarded.

Or could it be a publicity stunt? If it is what kind of publicity stunt is it? Who would want to use a airline whose CEO suggests nixing out 2nd pilot. The whole article it is hilariously disturbing.