They say that what goes up, must come down – and so it is that a number of airlines have had their fair share of bad press in recent times.
Earlier this year, we had arguably the most notorious airline PR disaster of all time when a United Airlines passenger was forcibly removed at random to make space for crew members, before being branded “disruptive and belligerent”. We’ve all seen the appalling footage.
Now, following on from Ryanair cancelling around 2,000 flights – including a significant number from Scotland – due to too many pilots taking holidays at the same time, Monarch has been hitting the headlines.
Monarch went into administration and ceased trading, causing the company to make 90 per cent of its 2,000-strong workforce redundant, while leaving 110,000 passengers stranded abroad. Some 750,000 others, including many Scots, have paid for flights that will not take off.
With hundreds of thousands of people left in limbo between the two incidents and desperately trying to re-book flights with other operators, it’s left the travel industry in a sorry state of affairs with too many holidays ruined.
The price of last-minute flights has skyrocketed by almost 25 per cent – a further sting in the tail for passengers already put out by the cancelled flights.
Unsurprisingly, Ryanair and Monarch employees have spoken out about the handling of both situations. In the aftermath of Ryanair’s announcement, anonymous employees made claims about low pay and poor conditions compared to other airlines. Meanwhile, two trade unions are preparing legal action on behalf of Monarch employees over the lack of consultation during their redundancies.
In the midst of this mess, it has been suggested by some that the two companies could help each other out – Ryanair needs extra staff, so why can’t Monarch pilots switch over?
However, some experts have pointed out that it would take months to retrain Monarch pilots to fly Boeing planes as Monarch has an Airbus fleet.
Tilmann Gabriel, a former pilot-turned-university lecturer, was also quoted in the press saying he wasn’t sure if the pilots would want to work for Ryanair, citing his belief that other airlines pay significantly higher wages.
easyJet has nevertheless wasted no time in contacting former Monarch employees to ask them to consider applying for more than 500 vacancies – a potentially very shrewd move on the part of the budget airline.
I also had a chuckle when I spotted Virgin Trains’ well-timed adverts reminding travellers that they still go to London from Edinburgh after Ryanair cancelled flights between the two capitals. In business, someone’s loss is almost always someone else’s gain.
If any good has come out of these fiascos for passengers, then you could say that they’ve served to highlight common misconceptions about holiday insurance. Cheaper insurance is unlikely to cover two very vital aspects that will stand you in better stead for emergency accommodation and alternative flights paid for by your insurer.
It’s prudent to note that scheduled airline failure insurance covers any costs incurred if your airline folds, including while you are abroad. Supplier failure meanwhile covers the cost if your airline, hotel or any other provider goes bust.
With Ryanair’s cancelled flights, it’s up to the airline to reimburse flights because it’s still operating, but it doesn’t mean that Ryanair will also have to cover the cost of other aspects of the trip such as hotels.
It’s definitely worth paying a little extra and carefully checking the fine print to ensure peace of mind.
I’ll continue to watch with interest to see how Ryanair and Monarch continue to handle these two very sorry situations. Unfortunately, I think they may be set to continue to dominate the headlines for some time.
Social Bite founder Josh Littlejohn has clearly been extremely busy recently.
Not only is he flat out organising Sleep in the Park – the world’s largest sleep out to raise money that will help to tackle the root causes of homelessness – but his craft beer firm Brewgooder has ramped up its presence in the Scottish grocery trade after securing a listing with the Co-operative Group.
The Edinburgh-based label, whose beer is made by BrewDog in Ellon, has challenged itself to raise enough funds to provide clean water for one million people facing water poverty.
Alongside his business partner Alan Mahon, Josh said the company’s initial focus has been on supporting clean water projects in Malawi, with the company reporting in June that it had provided water to more than 5,000 people after installing two wells in the African country.
The beer will now appear on shelves in 100 Co-op stores from this month under what it termed its ‘largest deal to date’ in the convenience store sector. This builds on an existing distribution deal that Brewgooder has with supermarket giant Asda, which was extended to cover more than 350 stores in June.
It’s been a good week for the craft beer business in Scotland in general. Edinburgh-based Bellfield Brewery has also secured an agreement with Aldi for its two gluten-free beers.
The deal will see its Lawless Village IPA and Bohemian Pilsner beers placed on sale in 75 Aldi stores north of the border. The company has upped production as a result of the extra business in Scotland.
Here’s to further success for our hard-working indigenous brewers.
It Made Me Laugh
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a ten pound note.
I had to laugh when I saw that pupils from Blairgowrie had helped the Royal Bank of Scotland launch its first plastic £10 bank note – by sending it to the edge of space.
After a public vote on social media, Scottish astronomer Mary Somerville was chosen as the face of the new note that would be blasted into the stratosphere. Quite a fitting journey for Ms Somerville.
I liked that the bank allowed the public to have an influence on the design. Its development involved Scottish arts organisations and designers including Graven Images, Timorous Beasties, and the Glasgow School of Art.
This is one tenner that is clearly going places. Watch out Pluto.
It Made Me Weep
If you thought people in Glasgow were happy-go-lucky, then you might have to think again.
I was saddened to read that the least happy city in the UK is apparently Glasgow. The Bank of Scotland annual Happiness Index recorded growth in contentment levels but also found that Glaswegians were 40 per cent less happy than those living in Mid-Scotland.
This week Glasgow residents have been rightly hitting back, saying the reports are rubbish and that people there are joyful and friendly. I couldn’t agree more.
Despite this, overall happiness in Scotland has never been higher with the index showing growth every year since 2015 and increasing by 8 per cent in the last year alone.
And that’s a stat that really gives me something to smile about.
