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Ryanair slam TV allegations
Ryanair has robustly defended its safety and security procedures after a damning TV documentary claimed to have uncovered serious procedural breaches at the no frills carrier.
Two undercover reporters for Channel 4’s Dispatches programme worked for five months as cabin crew with their findings and experiences broadcast last night.
The programme alleged security breaches, dirty aircraft, exhausted staff and disdain for passengers.
In all, 20 allegations were forwarded in writing to Ryanair on January 12. The carrier claimed all 20 have been “comprehensively disproven by the factual evidence provided by Ryanair.”
Details of the correspondence between Ryanair and producers of the programme are available at Ryanair’s website.
Ryanair also claimed both the CAA and Irish Aviation Authority said there was no substance to the allegations.
It did admit however that there were “a couple of isolated examples of a minor breaches” which will be fully investigated. They relate to passport checks at the departure gate.
“It is interesting that the Dispatches programme after five months of filming, covering 100,000 flights, could only produce a couple of isolated examples of minor breaches by Ryanair cabin crew,” the company said in a statement.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary added: “This bears witness to the safety and security compliance of Ryanair’s operations, and the outstanding service that is provided to our 40 million passengers annually by the 3,500 professionals who work here.
“The refusal of the Dispatches programme to accept Ryanair’s offers of an interview and their refusal to run our statement without editing it makes it clear that it is the Dispatches programme that had something to hide, not Ryanair.”
Ryanair’s statement to the media however failed to tackle allegations of staff fatique and fed-up passengers.
Report by Steve Jones
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