Ryanair has been hitting more than its share of turbulence recently but some of it is the “artificial” kind. The Irish budget carrier does a lot of business delivering countrymen to “party islands” in Spain and Greece. The party sometimes starts long before the passengers get to the gate and flight attendants have a hard time ensuring their charges are safe. That’s where “artificial turbulence” comes in.
“Sometimes if the passengers are being annoying then the cabin crew ask us to turn the seatbelt signs on as if there’s turbulence, just so everyone sits down and the cabin crew can relax,” an unnamed pilot told British media. A flight attendant confirmed the white lie is used from time to time. “We refer to it as our artificial turbulence, and yes it happens.” The FA said its use depends on the pilot but it’s apparently a common theme. “It depends on pilots how often it’s done,” the FA said. “Some don’t like to do it, some love to do it. I have had flights where I have stopped service all together because passengers don’t have any manners.”
The UK Air Navigation Order is a legal instrument which among many clauses says a passenger should not be allowed to board an airliner under the influence of drink, nor become drunk while on board. Easy to write, less easy to enforce while hundreds of passengers crowd the gate, many under the influence of tax free bottles opened illegaly in the departure area. This was the case on many holiday charter departure flights from the UK to European destinations. On one such midnight departure from Manchester to Palma Mallorca carrying 230 pax in my B757, crew of 2 pilots and 6 stewardesses it was evident from the start that at least 30 rowdy male pax were about to cause problems for my crew. Under the ANO I refused them boarding and left with a much relieved cabin crew and the remaining happy 200 pax, many with children. This problem was solved permanently by the holiday company informing all bookings that anyone refused boarding while drunk and disorderly would lose their holiday without recompense, and if refused on the return would have to fund their own flight with another airline. This tactic worked.
Reposting Reply to correct post:
Excellent!
Need a psychology evaluation of each pax, as US successfully used to prevent hijackings before the massive security effort, and as Israel uses.
(Well, more factors were probably used. Israelis prevented disaster by finding a bomb in the carryon bag of a woman headed to Israel. Her boyfriend wanted to get her pregnancy out of his life.)
In the US we have FAR 91.17(b), which says the same. Unfortunately it is not enforced very well here.
Excellent!
Need a psychology evaluation of each pax, as US successfully used to prevent hijackings before the massive security effort, and as Israel uses.
(Well, more factors were probably used. Israelis prevented disaster by finding a bomb in the carryon bag of a woman headed to Israel. Her boyfriend wanted to get her pregnancy out of his life.)
Brit and Canuck airlines have tended to be stricter, plus Southwest Airlines.
Recall a very rowdy pax died on SWA because too many people piled on him.
(Brit and Canuck airlines were using a ‘yellow card’ procedure – pin a yellow card to seat cushion to advice each other and pax that an individual has behaviour problems. AC pursued a court case against an abusive female and won, in part to publicize that there can be consequences.)
Sounds like the sign should come with a stick shaker mod that when activated will shake the stick slightly to actually create some PIO. That should get them to sit down……
And recall one of the cheap charter outfits from central Canada refused boarding of many pax for the return flight from a sun destination to Canada.
Organizer of the trip was trying to weasel his way out of responsibility, last I heard, probably at the cost of his business due to the publicity.
Some pax were identified publicly from photos posted to the Internet, one was fired by her employer for being unsuited for her position.
Authorities interviewed and investigated pax when they eventually found their way back to Canada, fined some.
(Many of the stranded pax got back by circuitous routings, as other airlines were refusing them>
There is a serious problem of intoxication in societies like Australia/Canada/UK/US, today marijuana often added to alcohol.
The PM of the UK may lose his job for participating in parties during lockdown of the SARS2 panicdemic, a cabinet official just resigned for something he did while drunk.
Vote for more police to identify people with violent mentality.
The bad behaviour comes from intoxicants removing inhibitions to subconscious desires, whereas with sane people it tends to put them to sleep. The subconscious holds stored facts and values.
And there’s the idiot behaviour of females getting drunk in booze peddling places then sexually assaulted. Darwin Candidates they are.
‘The subconscious holds stored facts and values.’
Actually, the unconscious realm of the mind keeps attitudes and habits, previously formed by the conscious, either of which are conjured from a perceived reality, illusion or desire. The subconscious cannot judge or discriminate the input, it just records.
The conscious mind then, through experience, will form ‘values’ or ‘facts’ based from this unconscious realm, which still may or may not be factual or have any degree of importance, but nonetheless could get the job at hand done.
Not unlike ‘Artificial Turbulence” lol.