Designed & created by
Gavin Wright
Terms & Conditions 30 Smilie Road, Peterlee, Co.Durham, England. SR8 4AN e-mail
A woman suffering with multiple sclerosis was left stranded on the tarmac as other people boarded the airplane. As a frequent flyer she was used to the usual procedures of getting assistance into the plane. However on this occasion the hoist didn’t turn up and she was left waiting. Her husband repeatedly asked for assistance from the cabin crew and the pilot to carry her on board as they felt the pressure from staff needing to get the plane airborne again. However, no one was willing to help quoting health and safety as an issue. One member of staff was overheard to say that he might put his back out if he tried to help. Eventually, her husband picked her up in a fireman style lift and carried her on board himself. She was quite understandably embarrassed as all the other passengers were looking on and turning in their seats as she was carried down the aisle.
Is Ryanair to blame?
They sued Ryanair and was awarded a payout of £1750 for the humiliation she experienced. Ryanair had previously offered more money than this as an out of court settlement on the condition that they told nobody about the incident. However, the couple felt that other people should benefit from the experience rather than just themselves and preferred that a ruling be made.
Ryanair on the other hand are appealing the decision as they mention that the hoisting of
people on and off planes is the responsibility for the airport and not the airline. The arrangement for the hoist was made through the airport operators and not through Ryanair.
So the question is how do you feel about this fiasco? The few comments viewable on the Daily Mail web site are not very favourable to Ryanair. My feelings are somewhat different. It is easy to adopt a “holier than thou” attitude in situations like this, but it is not too long ago (2003) that we were faced with the East Sussex case which has a very similar overtone. To be fair to the people of East Sussex (if you are not familiar with this case please see my downloads section), it could have been almost anyone of us in their position. We had gone from one extreme to the other almost without realising it. This case brought us all down to earth and we, as leaders in the art of moving and handling people needed to adjust out thinking and approach. Pilots are not people handlers in the same way we are. I actually know personally one of the Ryanair pilots as I grew up with him. Safe patient handling does not form part of his training. On the other hand, as was stated in the East Sussex case, maybe we should all think of the principle “do to others as you would have them do to you.” The pilot and staff could have helped but what would we be saying if they had dropped her down the stairs due to their lack of moving and handling skills?
