Ryanair might be one of the world’s most controversial airlines, but it serves a purpose and for that, it thrives. I am one of millions of advocates for its low fares and network that will take you directly to provincial airports that feel as intimate as a private terminal and open access to some of Europe’s most interesting corners.
But its family seating policy is a red line. Earlier this month, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched an investigation into the airline requiring parents to sit with their children but charging a mandatory fee of around £8 for doing so.
The CMA will determine whether this is an unfair contract term under consumer law.
Before the verdict has been announced, Ryanair has issued a “minor policy tweak”, which some might see as an admission of wrongdoing. From 25 June, it will allocate seats for adults travelling with children, free of charge. This being Ryanair, there’s a catch.
The airline explains that “families opting for this random allocation of seats beside each other are likely to be seated towards the rear of the aircraft cabin.”
Its justification for effectively shunting families to the cheap seats nobody else wants is that front rows sell out to fee-paying passengers first. It says that the seating policy update will be “revenue neutral” because it knows that those seats at the back are not in demand.
Families will be “advised of their (free of charge) seat allocation after they have checked in for their flight”.
Consumer group Which? says that it will be monitoring the implications of Ryanair’s updated policy, and whether all parents are seated next to their children without charge over the next few months. The question remains what will happen if priority is given to fee-paying passengers, and not enough seats remain for families to be seated together.
Rather than segregate stressed-out parents and their children in the back rows, the airline could instead offer a more family-friendly solution by allocating seats at the time of booking, leaving the rest for unencumbered passengers to book should they so choose.
As the CMA pointed out when setting out its investigation, “lots of families save up to afford a summer holiday” at a time when many are reducing spending on holidays to cover the cost of living.
While Ryanair has decided to seat families together “for free” (and let’s face it, who wants to pay to sit in a seat next to a lone toddler crying for their parents two rows back?), its offer is cynical.
The Generation Alpha being overlooked today are children who can recite Jet2 ads by rote. I wonder which airline they’ll choose to fly with when they’re old enough?
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