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

It's just par for the course if you choose to fly. I've been stuck on a plane on the ground for four hours before - no refreshments provided and not allowed to use the toilet. Annoying but nothing you can do.

not allowed to use the toilet?!
Sorry, but if I had to pee, I wouldn't be able to hold it in for 4 hours.

I’d be-more bothered about needing the loo! (Can you use the loo if the plane is still on the tarmac???)

Why? It has nothing to do with Ryanair.

The way people whine on and on about Ryanair is ridiculous. They are a budget airline and everything is up front. Don't like it, don't use it, more cheap flights for the rest of us, but stop complaining for no reason.

Easyjet did similar on a domestic flight six weeks back. All that was offered was a small cup of water. It gets hot quickly sat on the runway with no aircon going.

We had this with BA. Only it was over 4 hours- longer than the flight!
To top it off they had zero food on board my 2yo DD could eat - she has CMPA; I contacted them twice prior to travelling and they assured me there would be food for her. Nope. EVERYTHING had milk, butter or cheese in it. And I hadn't brought anything because they had assured me there would be food for her. We were on that plane for over 7 hours in the end, with a very cranky toddler.

Haven't flown BA since. Not so much because of the delay as that's not the airlines fault, but because they lied about the food situation.

FYI the bars can't be opened on the ground, I used to be crew for Ryanair. If you had been in the terminal you may have been given food vouchers (can't remember what the delay has to be for them to be given).

Happened to us one, was fine in terms of food and drink as we always take some, but felt awful for our then 4 year old who had to pee in one of his wee brother's spare nappies as he was desperate. Poor lad, he was so embarrassed.

People can't go 2 hours without a drink or a snack?

Delays can happen, especially when flying is involved. Be more prepared, bring water with you.

I was stuck on the tarmac in Sydney for over four hours, due to a massive hailstorm of all things. They had to go round the plane in a cherry-picker making sure nothing had been damaged by the giant hail. It was a Virgin flight, but I'd fly with them again, it was hardly their fault after all. I was VERY relieved to land safely in Perth though.

OP, sorry to have a giggle, but this is the most British post I have seen in a while............

😀

Toilets on the ground, yes you usually can, the contents go into a tank.

With regard to the various posts about lack of aircon sometimes that's not the airline's fault, they may be screwed by airport regulations on the use of Auxillary Power Units (APU).

For background the APU is a small jet engine, usually back end of the aircraft used to run electrics and provide air when the main engines aren't running. APU running equals noise and emissions, which is not seen as a good thing these days

As a result many airports have very strict regulations about running the APU any longer than absolutely necessary, and stipulate that for example they must be turned off with 15 minutes of arrival and not turned on again until for example 15 minutes prior to departure....

It's easy enough to get an external electrical supply plugged in to the aircraft on the ground to keep the lights and other electrical items running whilst on the ground but generally it's less common at many airports to find a ground air supply that can be plugged in that will help keep the cabin ventilated whilst the APU is off.

Well you will know for next time won’t you, I am surprised you haven’t learned by now since your child is 2 that you need to be prepared if your child has allergies which mean that many foodstuffs are unsuitable and you can’t rely on there being things they can eat being available.

Is that you Cliff?

I hope you got home ok in the end!

We had this a few weeks ago with EasyJet, had a 3 hour delay in the plane waiting on the tarmac for an air traffic control slot. They gave everyone a free hot or soft drink and a snack.

Young people have to have a full bottle of water in hand, 24 hours a day.

I'm not sure what happens if this new rule isn't followed, but Barb from accounts told me that there's been the occasional Spontaneous Combustion.

This is why everyone walks around the Office desperately clutching a full bottle of Evian at all times.

I preferred it when we all just drank coffee at our desks, and then had wine in Team meetings, but then I'm a dinosaur.

I just want a cup of tea and a biscuit.

Christ, you wouldn't last long in the real outdoors. Take a bottle of water with you in future.

I remember a flight back from Craggy Island to That London. The pilot said he'd been told there would be at least a two hour wait for the landing slot because of the knock-on effects of a storm, but 'buckle up folks because if I can nab an earlier landing slot I will!' and sure enough within 20 minutes he had that plane hurtling down the runway.

I think he was able to bagsy the slot because everyone including the crew was strapped in and the plane was ready on the runway for immediate take-off. Well, I like to tell myself that anyway.

Glad you got home, OP.

Once my brother and I were on a return flight from Germany that was stuck on the tarmac for a long time due to the weather. I'll always remember the pilot saying
'Sorry about this folks but you know what I always say....better to be down here, wishing we were up there, than up there, wishing we were down here'.

A good point.

Young people have to have a full bottle of water in hand

Almost like they've learned that hydration is good for you. People who care about when other people drink water need to get lives😂

Easier said than done as many times the only airlines to fly to certain destinations are the no frills.

@SpinningTheSeedsOfLove

I think he was able to bagsy the slot because everyone including the crew was strapped in and the plane was ready on the runway for immediate take-off. Well, I like to tell myself that anyway.

That's actually possibly not far off the truth.

Flights gets given a slot (take-off time)... worse case can be hour(s) delay but whatever the forecast delay it can pay to close the aircraft up, be ready to go and then get the company reps to send a thing called a "ready message" to the ATC authorities.

If another flight then fails to be ready on time for whatever reason and as a result their slot suddenly becomes vacant you can suddenly end up being told, basically, "you are ready so go now"

This happened to me on the way to India once, turned out a passenger had a heart attack just before take off. I spent the whole flight stressed cos I knew I'd miss my connection in Dubai. Just one of those things I guess.

My funniest was stuck on the tarmac at 30°c + in the Dominican Republic waiting for the ice on the wing to defrost - strangely enough the airport didn't have a de-icing machine!
The pilot said he'd never had ice problems in the Caribbean before.
They had to turn the plane so that the wing was in direct sunlight.