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Ryanair pushing ahead with $6 standing room only seats and paid bathrooms

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Jul 1st 2010 at 10:00AM

Last year, Ryanair first mentioned their concept for several rows of standing only seats. The idea back then was to install special standing seats and offer them for a reduced fee.

The new seating innovation has not been implemented yet, but Michael O'Leary wants everyone to know that he is still very serious about it, and hopes to pay for the new seats with proceeds from the paid bathrooms he also hopes to install soon.

If there is one thing I've learned about Ryanair, it is that even though most of their ideas sound like crackpot ways to generate some free PR, they take their silly ideas quite seriously.

Ryanair knows that there is virtually no limit to the inconveniences passengers will put up with in exchange for crazy low airfares. When your flight is just a few hours out of a one week vacation, the savings on airfare leave you with more money for food, booze and tacky souvenirs.

With the new seats, between 40 and 50 extra passengers can be loaded on the planes, pushing things to the absolute maximum the plane is approved to carry. Still, the big question is whether you'd be willing to pay an insanely low fare in exchange for a standing seat on a flight of several hours.

Would you pay $6 for a standing seat on Ryanair?
Yes	6575 (41.3%)
No	9350 (58.7%)

[Image from AFP/Getty Images]

Filed under: Europe, Airlines, Airline Reviews

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Reader Comments (Page 2 of 3)

jany Jul 4th 2010 10:51PM

making passengers pay for the bathroom should be illegal as well. so you pay $6 to stand up and make sure you have your depends on as well.

Slava Jul 4th 2010 10:53PM

what the f*** kind of regulations do they have in Ireland???

here in the US the airline would have machinegun-armed agents of several agencies knocking on their door for this stupid f***ing idea! And the reason is (for once) not because the Feds are dictatorial bastards...its a basic rule of aviation safety, even paratroopers have seats and seatbelts in their C-130s for crying out loud!

what the hell are these MORONS thinking???

bernergirl Jul 4th 2010 10:57PM

to cc, ryanair is not a u.s. flag carrier, therefore not subject to faa regulations but to the regulations of their countries (and i'm almost positive they're from ireland) airline regulation enforcement agency. HOWEVER i agree with most posters that this is a bad idea. this coming from a flight attendant with 32 years experience who is very aware of all the unanticipated things that can occur on an aircraft. i take my seat belt and shoulder haress any day of the week!

jan Jul 4th 2010 11:10PM

i am guessing that a standing seat is kind of like the seats on the stand up roller coasters at Kings Island. they are kind of like bicycle seats that raise and lower to fit your leg height. not sure i would wanna "sit" on one of those for that long. I may try it once if the air line was reputable.

AlfredJSenior Jul 6th 2010 12:31AM

Perfect! I remember "standing seats" with a great deal of fondness. We'd have all our "luggage" arranged on us and we'd be holding on to a strap. An "attendant" at the front would look for our destination and when we got within a minute of our destination the attendant would have us move closer to the door. Then at the exact moment we arrived over our destination the pilot would turn on a green light and everyone would kinda run out the door hollering various things and handing our straps to the attendant and the "safety" assistant.

It was real exciting but they never charged us anything like 6 dollars for the ride. Instead they paid us, gave us somewhere to sleep, fed us a couple of times a day, even included a gym membership and an extensive exercise program.

The "standing seat" organization offered a 3 year, 6 year or twenty year "standing seat" plan. The "standing seat" notion originally gained some modest popularity between 1942 and 1945.

We "standing seaters" even developed a fair comraderie and sense of eliteness when we compared ourselves to the ordinary, faint of heart "sit and riders."

It's nice to think they are bringing back some of the earlier air transport ideas in regard to more efficiently moving folks to their destinations. ;-)

Susan Jul 4th 2010 11:14PM

Next they can take off the tires and let the standing passengers run the plane down the runway . What a savings that would make too !

kim Jul 5th 2010 12:55AM

Lets try this idea: Get rid of all the seats on the plane and put drawers in, just like the ones in the morgue. Stack them 5-6 high.We could all lie down for the whole flight.Then use our carry-on bags as pillows. Just think how many people we could get on one plane!!! :)

Flying was not meant to be this way...................

brad Jul 4th 2010 11:44PM

I would much rather stand for 3 hours than sit in coach. My knees hit the seat in front of me and I always end up with a sore back as the result. I can't really justify the cost of 1st class ticket for a flight less than 3 hours

Bring on the standing !

kel Jul 4th 2010 11:50PM

SCREW RYAN AIR and all the OTHER RIPOFF airlines.

Barry A Clarke Jul 5th 2010 12:04AM

I hope the shareholders and board of directors get some leadership abilities at he helm or this could be the beginning of the end for this airline..........

Stuart Jul 5th 2010 12:31AM

To hell with it. Let everyone stand--including the pilot and co-pilot.

Tom C Jul 5th 2010 12:59AM

Have you ever watched "Titanic"? I believe the appropiate word would be "Steerage"! However, the same economic conditions drive the large carriers to do the same thing. Just like the society during Titanic's time, we have more disparity between the "haves" and the "have nots". I would still pay the low fare on Ryan Air. Will they have stepstools for the short people or children? I know they will be conducting safety tests prior to offering these "seats", but I do hope that people will be able to "egress" properly, and NOT like those "steerage class" people on the Titanic!

Elaine Jul 5th 2010 1:00AM

LMAO, some of your comments are so hysterical I'm laughing with tears rolling down my face. Thank you so much!!

Jason Jul 5th 2010 1:18AM

What will they come up with next? Strapped to the wings. Or how about being strapped horizontally and stacked like cargo and given a sedative or anesthesia until the flight is over

Arsenio Jul 5th 2010 1:46AM

CAUTION: in regards to the safety factor in an emergency when passengers must evacuate an aircraft in a short amount of time. Aircraft designs for Ryan Air's fleet of Boein 737's are only certified for so many passenger's with in the planes capacity and the time allowed for all passengers to evacuate the plane safely. With 50 extra passengers they may not have time or a way for a safe evacuation. People thining about taking this airline might want to reconsider, they might not make it out in an emergency with the increased passenger numbers.

jtr Jul 5th 2010 3:11AM

There will be a lot of people taking a long sh-- would be my guess. LOL

clark Jul 5th 2010 3:53AM

Standing seats are a great idea for short hour airline plane service. Most people who are in good physical health and not being obese would like to stand instead of sitting in a chair. Obese people would probably need to sit in chairs to reduce leg pain.