Passionate Cost Cutting Leads to Standing Room Only
What's interesting about Ryanair’s putting their cost cutting plans "on steroids", as The Journal calls it, is that they appear adamant in their philosophy that there's no such thing as a free lunch -- or snack, lavatory, baggage check or seat for that matter. O’Leary says "... paying for checked-in bags: It wasn't about getting revenue. It was about persuading people to change their travel behavior -- to travel with carry-on luggage only ...[and] Now we're looking at charging for toilets on board -- not because we want revenue from toilet fees. We'd happily give the money away to some incontinent charity. What it means is, if by charging for toilets on board, more people would use the toilets in the terminals before or after flights, I could take out maybe two of the three toilets on board, add six extra seats and reduce fares across the aircraft by another three or four percent."
At a time when price/cost competition is perhaps the most acute concern across all industries, following Ryanair's lead of further commoditizing their sector may not be a universal long term solution. The world economy will recover. And when it does, a value added edge in competition will be leading the charge.
- William Busch
Federal Airline Regulations Section 121.311 - Seats, safety belts, and shoulder harnesses.
"each person on board an airplane operated under this part shall occupy an approved seat or berth with a separate safety belt properly secured about him or her during movement on the surface, takeoff, and landing"
There - the Feds know best what is good for you!
That’s a bit U.S. centric. The FAA reports “Under the International Convention on Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention) each country is responsible for the safety oversight of its own air carriers. Other countries can only conduct specific surveillance activities, principally involving inspection of required documents and the physical condition of aircraft.”
Perhaps Ryanair will need to include “Please put your helmet on” when preparing for take-off, landing and turbulence.
Maybe the EU equivalent of FAA can see fit to change the rules for some local puddle-jumper outfit - but the laws of physics apply in Europe as well. Sudden weight shifts in a plane - e.g. if those one hundred standing passengers all fall backward during takeoff - would rapidly move the plane's center of gravity - not good. Stall much?
Don't count me among those who like bureaucrats - few groups of people are as status quo minded. They would outlaw fire if they could.