14 passengers found their holiday to Spain involuntarily lengthened after Ryanair forgot to board them and the plane took off without them.
Ryanair Totally Forgets To Board 14 Passengers, As Plane Takes Off With Them Still Waiting For Bus To Aircraft
All 14 passengers checked in and arrived to the gate on time at Palma Airport (PMI) on the Spanish island of Mallorca on April 30, 2022. They were traveling on Ryanair flight FR5729 to Malaga (AGP).
Ryanair uses remote gates and air stairs at many airports, which requires bussing passengers from the airport gate area to the aircraft. Here, passengers from the flight filled up two busses to capacity, leaving 14 passengers left. They were told to wait and another shuttle would arrive for them.
Only it never did. And then the flight took off.
While all were accommodated on a flight to Malaga later in the day, many missed onward connections. That included Susana Guerrero, a cancer patient traveling to malaga for chemo therapy.
Unsurprisingly, Ryanair blamed its airport handler–
“The airport handler who operates the airport shuttle bus at Palma De Mallorca failed to collect this small group of passengers awaiting their bus at the airport gate to bring them to their plane, causing them to miss their flight to Malaga (30 Apr),”
“Affected passengers received refreshment vouchers and were reaccommodated on a later flight, with one passenger opting for a refund. Ryanair apologises sincerely to passengers for this inconvenience.”
Ah yes, “refreshment” vouchers. To add insult to injury, Ryanair only offered passengers a food and beverage good for 4€ during the multi-hour delay.
CONCLUSION
This situation is so frustrating because the passengers literally did nothing wrong. They showed up on time, proceeded to the gate area, prepared to board the aircraft, and were told to wait. How frustrating and how insulting that after being delayed for several hours, they were only offered a 4€ voucher. You cannot even buy a drink for that these days…
OMG
Don’t they have a way to check how many passengers checked in vs how many are on board prior to taking off? I have planned vacation in Europe this summer and went out of my way to avoid both Ryanair and EasyJet. I am taking later flights on KLM just to avoid those two carriers.
See my related comment on the equipment and software that is in use and available from the Global Distribution Systems such as Sabre and Amadeus!
Love it. Capitalism means those with money and power get to screw those without. Next life those losers can try to be born to richer parents so they don’t need ryan air.
Yes comrade, that’s why Aeroflot was so awesome back in the 1970s and 1980s.
To the barricades!
what happened to the good ole days when the passenger counts had to match?
EU travellers can enjoy a massive compensation in these cases up to $600… So far better than refreshment vouchers
Wouldn’t the qualify for EU compensation?
EU261/2004 applies. They will get their 300 Euros compensation each once they claim.
I’ve baited them on Twitter. I hope I get a response.
I’m told the experience of flying with Ryan is like riding a bus so many passengers never noticed they were not boarded on a plane.
I get such a charge out of pax who book the cheapest air they can find, then they complain when they’re not treated well. How do they think the cheapest airline remains the cheapest airline? Perhaps they think that top management just makes a little less money … no, boys and girls, top management is always compensated first, then cuts are made to other areas … like maintenance people who care, or hiring gate agents with a brain.
Matching passenger counts with actual passengers in the cabin requires either an additional agent to go on board and perform a physical headcount (while passengers ask questions) or having a flight attendant do the same physical headcount OR buying software and equipment to scan boarding passes as the passenger enters the jet way. The software quickly identifies errors and solutions.
I am guessing Ryanair does not make those investments.