Alice sent a message to Michael O'Leary CEO, Ryanair Email Address that said:
Complaint for the attention of CEO
Dear Mr O'Leary
Having recently travelled to Tenerife South from Manchester Terminal 3 with RyanAir, I felt it necessary to write to inform you of just how appalling the health and hygiene standards on board were.
My husband, son and I flew with your company on Sunday 20 March at 1345 on the FR4332 and witnessed some disgusting behaviours from the lead member of the crew called Diego.
My husband and I were sat in the emergency exits seats 1A and 1B, and so unfortunately for us, we could clearly see everything that he was doing.
To name just a few examples;
1) He was coughing and sneezing over the food and drinks he was preparing and made no effort whatsoever to cover his mouth
2) After blowing his nose with a tissue he continued to handle food and cups etc without washing his hands
3) He used the sick bags taken from the back of passengers chairs to cough up phlegm
4) He warmed a ready meal in the oven, but when removing it from the oven he dropped the food on the floor but then continued to go ahead and serve it to an unsuspecting passenger
In addition to the above points, his behaviour wasnt very professional, again, below I have listed a few examples;
1) He prepared his own alcoholic drinks whilst in charge of the other three flight attendants and a plane full of passengers. At this point I really couldnt believe what I was seeing and so I have taken a photograph as evidence and can send this to you if required
2) He was playing on his mobile phone
3) There was no checking that our seat belts were fastened
4) As we were sat in the emergency exit seats I would have expected to receive some safety information about how to open the doors in the event of an emergency, and where we could locate our life jackets in case of need however it wasn't even mentioned (please note that on our return flight we were fully briefed by a member of the cabin crew who followed the correct process and so it is apparent that Diego didn't follow the correct safety procedures)
During the 4.5 hour flight I would have usually purchased some drinks and snacks for my family, but after witnessing the total disregard for health and hygiene standards we chose to wait until we got off the flight because we couldn't bring ourselves to consume anything that Diego had been in contact with.
I have to say I was really shocked at the poor health and hygiene on board the flight and I will never fly with RyanAir again, and I certainly wouldn't recommend the company to friends, family and colleagues. It was comparable to a scene from Fawlty Towers and we couldnt wait to get off the plane not being able to comprehend the debacle we had seen in front of us.
Diego clearly shouldn't be in a position where he is allowed to handle food and drinks for others, as he has total disregard for the germs he is passing around the very confined space he is working in.
The final straw was when after feeling uncomfortable in our seats, we moved around and lifted the cushions we were sat on to find that rubbish had been hidden under them.
Finally, I would like to share some feedback on the cabin crews appearance and the behaviour of the pilot. I have previously flown many times with various companies and have always found the cabin crew to look immaculate and be proud of their appearance. I have to say this was not the case with RyanAir. The cabin crew looked shabby - the men on the outbound flight had scratched shoes and unironed shirts, and on the return flight the ladies had unironed blouses, scratched shoes, the hems on the skirts had unravelled and so were hanging down and a few of them had laddered or plucked tights.
Towards the end of our return flight I was horrified to see the pilot leave the cockpit to use the toilet and hear him comment to the cabin crew that he was knackered because he'd been up all night and hadn't slept because he'd been at the hospital. I am sure you'll agree this is not something that is appropriate or professional to say in front passengers when you are responsible for landing a full flight of passengers safely at 2310 hours.
I am a professional person and work in a customer service environment and I know for a fact that if my customers witnessed what my family and I had seen it would be headline news. I am writing to you personally because if RyanAir was my company I would want to know where we had failed our customers and where we had not met their expectations.
The things that my family and I experienced were very poor indeed and I feel that the health and safety of the RyanAir passengers on board the flight was not taken seriously and we were therefore put at risk. This is not the right kind of image that I would like to portray to my customers and I hope that you will feel the same after reading this.
I look forward to hearing your comments in due course. I would also be grateful if you could please share the details of how my complaint can be escalated to the relevant aviation ombudsman if I feel this has not been dealt with the seriousness it deserves and I am not completely satisfied with the response.
Yours sincerely
Mrs Jedrzejewski
