Why Does Panorama Hate Ryanair? A complete, objective viewpoint?

Michael O'Leary Chief Executive of Ryan Air in the firing line, again!

I have to admit I was looking forward to the latest BBC edition of Panorama broadcast last night on BBC1. I was expecting some detailed objective journalism into the operations of arguably the largest airline in country and the way it operates. I was also expecting something unknown or a revelation of bad practice broadcast in the public interest. Sadly this was not the case.

As the title suggests a ‘Panorama’ could be seen as a complete view of something, but the view was somewhat uninspiring. What we had was some film of a journalist sitting on a plane to tell us that the seats were small, and that the sandwiches and coffee were expensive. WOW

It then went on to tell us the pricing of the airline was essentially unfair on us poor travellers and that the staff even had to bring their own drinks to work. I am sorry I am missing something? I may not fly a plane but I work and I have to bring my lunch to work along with tea and coffee. Of course I have the alternative to buy some at work but the prices are less however equally ridiculous for the location.

We were then told how nasty Ryanair was to demand such cheap aircraft from their suppliers (in this case Boeing) and a short interview with Airbus made it clear that they were not prepared to supply aircraft at the prices Ryan Air was prepared to pay. Again, what is the point Panorama is trying to make. I see no difference in this business practice than any other industry whether it be Tesco and their relationship with farmers or higher educations relationship with students. No one is being forced to do business with Ryan Air, no one is being forced to travel with them, and no airport is being forced to allow them to land.

There is no secret in Ryanair’s low cost model, they keep the aircraft in air for as long as possible rather than have them on the tarmac, they use the same planes which gives them buying power with suppliers and flexibility on route management as well a simplified maintenance programmes.

Then there was the charging for booking online. So what, if you don’t like it then don’t pay it and fly with someone else. What is the difference between this and buying a product online only to be charged for delivery? Internet only retailers have been charging for delivery for years with little rebuttal from consumers, even though they have no option to pay it if they want the goods.

People need to understand that they get what they pay for and should be prepared to pay it if they want it. The success of Ryanair suggests that in their market people don’t want it.
Given that Aircraft flight costs are directly linked to the weight of the aircraft, it appears fair to charge for baggage. The use of yield management technologies to manage pricing strategies is widely accepted in services industries such as these.

Personally I wait with interest for the time that FAT people are charged more than thin for travel as they arguably cost more to transport !