Stuck on a plane on tarmac. What should they do?

[Thousandthingstosay]

On a Ryanair flight. It's been delayed two hours. We've boarded and sitting on the plane and just been told we'll be stuck on the tarmac for another hour.

Are Ryanair obliged to give passengers a drink etc? Or do anything?

It's a short haul flight from Europe to UK

Wouldn’t put it passed Ryanair to charge you for the extended use of their seats!

Very true!

Got horrid feeling we won't take off.

Surely you can last more than two hours without a drink!

Sorry, I don't know the legal rules, but I had the exact same in Singapore once. Have they said why its been delayed?

Everytime they'd taxi to take off, a light came on in the cockpit saying there was an electrical fault and they had to turn back to the terminal. They had to turn the electrics off- so no air con in 32', humid heat!!! We kept taxiing back and forth- so all had to remain seated and they never actually docked to let us off the plane. It was at least 2hrs before they brought around plastic glasses of luke warm water!

When we finally did take off, we were then told that we wouldn't be getting our hot meal!!! Apparently it had been out into the ovens to heat when we started- but as it was hours later, it was now unsafe to eat! We were therefore given the tray, with the cold bun and butter, orange juice, dessert and the tiny salad!

I wish I'd complained at the time or even thought to write a letter. Keep a log off the times- flight times and when you actually left and arrived. What you did/didn't get in terms of water, food etc. Reason you were told for delay etc. Hopefully someone with more experience will come along with more advice.

Family delayed several hours and all they got was a 4 Euro voucher from Ryan Air. Big whoop. Guardian gave a link to MSE templates for complaining, to get compensation after 3 hours, if you have the energy to bother.

I had this at Dubai once. Just chalked it up to “it happens sometimes”.

www.theguardian.com/money/2022/jun/20/flight-cancellations-delays-how-to-claim-airline-uk

I just want a cup of tea and a biscuit. Parched. Happy to pay for it

2 -3 hours used to equal drink/food voucher, and 4 was open to claiming some compensation. BUT that was something to do with Europe so may no longer be the case. Look at MoneySavingExpert, he is good at that kind of info.

I think being Ryanair it'll be down to basic duty of care, and how the company decides to provide it..

As for the background, if the OP is heading back to Stansted the arrival times for the Ryanair flights into there are generally looking a bit adrift, some by more than an hour, some by two...

They’re not going to start serving hot drinks. Once you get clearance to take off, they’ll need to get going fast. Wouldn’t kill them to hand out some bottles of water though, assuming they have enough on board, which is not definite, as Ryanair runs pared to the bone (that’s why they’re so cheap in comparison to other airlines).

Got tea and Pringles. Had to pay but was grateful.

Glad to be nearly home

ok...glad it worked out for you in the end

Glad to read you eventually were looked after.

Make that your last Ryanair flight.

I'm sorry you had this experience and it really does sound like a massive ballache (especially the lack of air con), but I don't think complaining would have done much good. Planes not taking off until potential safety issues have been fully investigated is a good thing even if it does mean long delays. Wouldn't have killed them to bring a drink round sooner though, especially when you're limited as to how much you can take on board with you!

In terms of provision of drink, or not, I guess we know Ryanair have previous.

As far as the delay itself it may well have been "one of those things".

We don't know where the OP was flying from but what was described sounded like a ATC slot issue. Certainly late last night/early this AM according to Eurocontrol there were major delays due airspace congestion through a lot of central/eastern/south eastern european airspace...

Lots of airlines were effected, including the well known northern UK airline that according to some here supposedly never suffer major delays had some significant delays (2 hours plus in at least one case...).

Chances are the delay wasn’t Ryanair’s fault. Any budget airline would be exactly the same in circumstances beyond their control.

I once had 5 hours on the tarmac on a plane with no air con as the APU was off. Not fun.

Make that your last Ryanair flight.

I have sworn off Ryanair many times but I always go crawling back for their low low prices and handy routes

the other week when flights were cancelled left right and centre ryanair was working, no problem, for my dd

I think one underlying point is on any given day any airline can get hit by delays, down all sorts of reasons - congestion in terminals is a popular one ATM, aircraft problems, ATC problems/slots....come winter it'll be weather delays...

Probably the more relevant issue to many how their airline of choice handles the delays when it comes to service recovery and customer care.

Start a sing song it will make you all feel better and pass the time.

This is why I don’t fly RyanAir.
I tend to go with Virgin or Jet2, and have never ever had any issues in years and years (and I travel a lot).
If there are delays, captain/crew always updates regularly and I’ve always got food/drinks.

Glad you got a cup of tea! It’s amazing how it makes everything a bit better!

I always take sth to drink and eat with me, even with regular companies. Some people laugh about it but then I see someone in your situation and I wouldn't want it to be me! You got lucky you were allowed to buy sth. I once saw people desperate for a drink and they kept saying we'll be taking off soon, we'll be taking off soon, so you'll have to wait till after.

We always buy water in the airport, a bottle for each of us, and will often take snacks too, crisps, breakfast bar, whatever. I couldn't get on a plane, even for a 2 hour flight, without water.