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Ryanair is pretty good on safety (my brother is a pilot with them). However they do absolutely everything to push costs down. MAX is a significant saving in fue

Ryanair is pretty good on safety (my brother is a pilot with them). However they do absolutely everything to push costs down. MAX is a significant saving in fuel, which is one of the biggest costs.

rutthenut 6y ago
I also expect Ryanair got a hefty discount on increasing their orders for the max
Majestic121 6y ago
No offense, but your brother being a pilot with them seems irrelevant on whether they are 'pretty good with safety' or not. Working there is a pretty big bias
- avh02 6y ago
  I dunno, there's some jobs you see from the inside you think "wow, this is a disaster" but from the outside it looks fine because that's what the company projects. (Anecdotally, a friend of mine gets horror stories from his brother, who's a mechanic with a very large airline)
- silasdavis 6y ago
  In Ryanair's case that bias may run in the opposite direction to that which you imply: https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/cqwdgxed80gt/ryanair-pilots-strike https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/cqwdgxed80gt/ryanair-pilots-...
- tgsovlerkhgsel 6y ago
  Who else (short of the CEO) would you consider more qualified to comment on the safety culture in a company? Pilots seem uniquely qualified to judge whether a company is prioritizing safety or short-term profit. For example, a pilot will know whether the company incentivizes pilots to overlook issues to make a flight happen or whether it encourages a safety culture of speaking up and staying on the ground when something comes up, or whether they fly with the absolute minimum of fuel permitted or a little bit more (and whether that is a safety issue or not).
StreamBright 6y ago
MAX is not the only option to achieve fuel efficiency. In fact, MAX is the failed answer from Boeing to the fuel efficiency problem. Airbus has NEO: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A320neo_family https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A320neo_family "After a year in service, Lufthansa confirmed the 20% efficiency gain per passenger with up to 180 seats, along with reduced noise and CO₂ emissions.[26] Operators confirm the 15% per seat fuel-burn savings even counterbalanced by the added weight on short sectors, which can rise to 16–17% on longer routes and to 20% or more for Lufthansa with 180 passengers up from 168 with two more seat rows"
- overscore 6y ago
  Ryanair only fly the 737 Type Rating, so the A320neo wasn't a viable option for them.
  - StreamBright 6y ago
    "Launched on 1 December 2010, it made its first flight on 25 September 2014 and it was introduced by Lufthansa on 25 January 2016." vs "On 8 September 2014, Ryanair made a commitment to order 100 new Boeing 737 MAX 8s (plus options for an additional 100) for delivery from 2019.[75]" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A320neo_family https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A320neo_family https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryanair#Fleet_development https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryanair#Fleet_development
    - overscore 6y ago
      I think you're missing the point. Ryanair have only flown the 737 Type Rating since their inception, not solely the 737-8200s they have on order. The only non-737 Type Rated aircraft in the corporate fleet are the A320-200s that came with the aquisition of Lauda Air, which are set to be replaced by 737-8200s. The A320neo was never a viable option for Ryanair.

Ryanair is pretty good on safety (my brother is a pilot with them). However they do absolutely everything to push costs down. MAX is a significant saving in fuel, which is one of the biggest costs.

rutthenut 6y ago

I also expect Ryanair got a hefty discount on increasing their orders for the max

Majestic121 6y ago

No offense, but your brother being a pilot with them seems irrelevant on whether they are 'pretty good with safety' or not. Working there is a pretty big bias

avh02 6y ago
I dunno, there's some jobs you see from the inside you think "wow, this is a disaster" but from the outside it looks fine because that's what the company projects. (Anecdotally, a friend of mine gets horror stories from his brother, who's a mechanic with a very large airline)
silasdavis 6y ago
In Ryanair's case that bias may run in the opposite direction to that which you imply: https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/cqwdgxed80gt/ryanair-pilots-strike https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/cqwdgxed80gt/ryanair-pilots-...
tgsovlerkhgsel 6y ago
Who else (short of the CEO) would you consider more qualified to comment on the safety culture in a company? Pilots seem uniquely qualified to judge whether a company is prioritizing safety or short-term profit. For example, a pilot will know whether the company incentivizes pilots to overlook issues to make a flight happen or whether it encourages a safety culture of speaking up and staying on the ground when something comes up, or whether they fly with the absolute minimum of fuel permitted or a little bit more (and whether that is a safety issue or not).

StreamBright 6y ago

MAX is not the only option to achieve fuel efficiency. In fact, MAX is the failed answer from Boeing to the fuel efficiency problem. Airbus has NEO: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A320neo_family https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A320neo_family "After a year in service, Lufthansa confirmed the 20% efficiency gain per passenger with up to 180 seats, along with reduced noise and CO₂ emissions.[26] Operators confirm the 15% per seat fuel-burn savings even counterbalanced by the added weight on short sectors, which can rise to 16–17% on longer routes and to 20% or more for Lufthansa with 180 passengers up from 168 with two more seat rows"

overscore 6y ago
Ryanair only fly the 737 Type Rating, so the A320neo wasn't a viable option for them.
- StreamBright 6y ago
  "Launched on 1 December 2010, it made its first flight on 25 September 2014 and it was introduced by Lufthansa on 25 January 2016." vs "On 8 September 2014, Ryanair made a commitment to order 100 new Boeing 737 MAX 8s (plus options for an additional 100) for delivery from 2019.[75]" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A320neo_family https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A320neo_family https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryanair#Fleet_development https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryanair#Fleet_development
  - overscore 6y ago
    I think you're missing the point. Ryanair have only flown the 737 Type Rating since their inception, not solely the 737-8200s they have on order. The only non-737 Type Rated aircraft in the corporate fleet are the A320-200s that came with the aquisition of Lauda Air, which are set to be replaced by 737-8200s. The A320neo was never a viable option for Ryanair.