Apr 20th, 2009
Again…. it’s Ryanair…
First, I wanted to write about the fact that Ryanair changed their webpage procedure, when booking a flight. In my last post of Ryanair, about the toilet fee (which reveals in a PR stunt) there is a statement that it is illegal to have presettings, which would lead to higher cost when the details are not changed manually.
So, apparently they react on this.
Whereas on the other hand, people who want to travel with Ryanair now can expect high fees regarding the check-in, luggage and payment since May this year.
Nevertheless, last week I found another newspaper article on Ryanair, which was very interesting.
‘Fat tax’ on fliers gaining momentum at Ryanair
Again, the low-cost airline, which is well known for their aggressive approach to make money or get attention due PR, wants to introduce the ‘fat tax’, like Ryanair called it. ‘Fat’ people would have to pay for a second seat, measured by their body mass index.
As the PR stunt of the toilet fee was revealed, Ryanair goes on with a campaign, where they gather suggestions from customers, about what charges the company can implement next.
As a result of this online survey the ‘fat tax’ comes to light. Approximately 40,000 people supported this idea. Discrepancies about the tax can be seen everywhere in the web. Some people would appreciate it, others see it as
In the United States, the tax is already introduced by some airlines. They stated that the initiator to implement the ‘fat tax’ was that they got so many complaints about obese people, who can not fit in one seat.
Also Ryanair said that they would like to introduce the ‘fat tax’ in order to react on consumers needs and make them more comfortable, instead of making profit.
Ryanair want their customers to feel more comfortable? I can give a list of things they can do…
Beside this, I am not sure, whether this campaign is again a PR stunt, but in general I think it’s not, because it really seems to come from the consumers, as can be read in loads of comments to concerning articles. But the thing I can’t believe is, that Ryanair would do this for their customers, without thinking of their advantage. The only thing here is that they can shift the blame on others – their customers.
Use of social media campaign can be helpful in developing and changing the customer perception about new tax policy, moreover it reduce the chance to get wrongly perceive by the fat people’s that not only they are treating differently but the status in social gathering, well the post is really intresting.
Don’t treat fat people’s differently….
I’ve come to think there is an element of publicity seeking in a lot of Ryanair’s decisions: there’s the toilet fiasco, their reaction to the blogger that found a glitch on their site and now this.
PR stunt or not, I actually agree with the idea, although part of me feels awful saying it. If someone needs more than one seat, then they should have to pay for it. Either that or introduce a certain number of larger wider seats.
Even if it would be a PR stunt, what are the trying to reach with it? They might gaun publicity, yes. But it is not the best, I think. And seriously, what would it make for a difference fot the other customers when they charge ‘fat’ people more? They will just loose some customers I think instead of winning new ones.
In my opinion Ryanair’s customers are very price sensitive and are not loyal at all. That is Ryanair’s problem. With such extra fees they try to keep the cheap prices for their flights and get money from additional services. Such a ‘fat tax’ would just affect a minority of Ryanair’s customers whilst the others do not have to pay extra. Therefore, only one segment would complain whereas the need of the main target group could still be satisfied.