The Herald reports that John Wilkie, a lecturer teaching stage management at the Royal Scottish Academy of Drama and Music in Glasgow, was arrested on the orders of Ryanair for trying to disembark an aircraft. The plane from Paris Beauvois to Glasgow’s Prestwick Airport was diverted to Edinburgh after a terror alert.
Mr. Wilkie and his family had to spend nearly six hours on the plane. Upset by the attitude and lack of information from the flight crew, and with the stewardesses refusing requests for refreshments, he advised the cabin crew he was removing his family from the plane. While he was told it was not permitted, he claims the pilot told him to go ahead. He and about 30 other passengers were persuaded by British Airport Authority staff to reboard the plane. Police then showed up by coming onboard to investigate claims by Ryanair that there had been a security breach.
He was charged with causing a security alert, and his wife was charged with assaulting a flight attendant during the commotion. Mr. Wilkie plead guilty, but dozens of fellow passengers wrote to the courts in his defense. The Sheriff even found the prosecution ridiculous and believes Ryanair owes Wilkie an apology.
The Office of Fair Trading has already told Ryanair in the past to stop ignoring European Union rules that require stranded passengers to be offered food, lodging, and compensation. Ryanair customers often complain of canceled flights with no information or any assistance, much less the above items, and a lack of response when they try to claim them with letters after completion of travel. As evidence of this, the Wilkie family had endured two cancelled flights and a diversion via Spain on their way to France.
Ryanair stands by their actions and insists they will press charges against any passengers who disobeys crewmember instructions. We fully agree that the crew is in charge of safety while the plane is in motion, and that obeying instructions is for the safety of the passengers. But in this situation, the airline was not taking proper care of its passengers or adequately seeing to their needs.
For more thoughts on Ryanair, try the forum for comments on the carrier at Airline Equality. They have stories from other carriers as well, but few so consistently unpleasant.