Ryanair. Air conditioning on or off?

[Kimmagegirl]

I like Ryanair. I fly with them a lot. However I am finding some of their flights to be very uncomfortable. The reason being I like to fly in a "cool" cabin.
I am noticing that on some of their earlier scheduled flights they cabin has been hot and stuffy. Heating on to heat up the cabin and then not being switched off. The result is like being locked in an oven. The overhead vents not giving any cool air.

Anyone else noticed this?

 

[gipimann]

I noticed that they stopped running their aircon while parked at the gate. This can make the plane feel very warm until it's airborne.

 

[noproblem]

I was on a delayed flight from Reus to Dublin last Tuesday and the plane was freezing, a lot of people complaining too but we had to lump it. No explanation given to us.

 

[Tintagel]

I have stopped getting the early morning flights due to the stuffiness of the plane. The staff have to stand at the door while passengers are boarding the plane so they have the heating on at full blast. Unfortunately for the rest of us half way down the plane the heat is overpowering.
If you get a mid morning flight the staff have worked up a bit of a sweat on an earlier flight so they want the cabin cool. This suits me also.
This latest cost saving of not having any air con while parked at the gate is penny pinching in the extreme especially if you are parked at a sunny airport.
Ryanair are making buckets of money. It's time they stopped this type of behaviour.

 

[dub_nerd]

The aircon in the cabin of a jet plane is provided directly by the engine. Air is bled from one of the compressor stages and re-expanded, providing cool air for the cabin. The primary purpose of the compressor, obviously, is to provide air to the engine's combustion chamber. There are two consequences -- you can't run the aircon when the engine is stopped, and the aircon reduces the power available to the engines. It's possible to run the aircon from the APU (auxiliary power unit), a mini jet engine in the tail of the plane that provides power to the electronics and engine starter when the main engines are off. Maybe the pilot doesn't have time to switch over or can't be bothered, or is doing a quick turnaround and knows he's going to have turn the aircon off on the taxiway anyway to provide full thrust on takeoff.

 

[landlord]

Maybe the pilot doesn't have time to switch over or can't be bothered, or is doing a quick turnaround and knows he's going to have turn the aircon off on the taxiway anyway to provide full thrust on takeoff.

Turning the a/c provided by the engines off for take off will provide more thrust for take off, however at a slightly higher fuel cost the APU can be kept on for take off supplying conditioned air and allowing full engine take off thrust. Don't forget the pilots will also suffer from the same environmental issues as the passengers when there is no conditioned air passing into the cabin/cockpit.
Many airports have noise regulations where the APU must be selected off within a certain time after arrival. Some airports provide ground air which hooks up under the aircraft for cool air in the cabin when the APU is off, but it's not as effective as the APU. Yes there is a small cost in running the APU. Occasionally they do break down. Unless faulty (then a external air starter will be required) the APU will always be selected on before engine start. Do you ever wonder why it gets very quiet and hot and stuffy for a 2 minute period during push back from stand?????
This is when all the air conditioned air (and associated noise) from the APU is diverted away from the cabin and towards the engines. All this high pressure air passes over the engine fans causing them to spin faster and faster until fuel is added and ignited and the rotation becomes self sustaining. At that point air from the APU is directed back to the cabin again. You will feel and hear it coming out the vents again. Not 100% sure about Boeing but Airbus have a cockpit overhead pack flow control rotary switch. With reduced passenger numbers, the flow of air into the cabin can be reduced to save on fuel.

 

[dub_nerd]

Knowing Ryanair, it's probably to save fuel for the APU. Here's an article about bad things that can happen to the passengers when pilots scrimp on the aircon:

http://fortune.com/2017/07/14/united-airlines-flight-cabin-temperature/

 

[MrEarl]

I had heard that one before actually, that it saves on fuel not to run the air-con

That said, a second benefit (for Ryanair) in making everyone too warm and uncomfortable, is that the passengers are more likely to buy drinks on the flight.

 

[dub_nerd]

I had heard that one before actually, that it saves on fuel not to run the air-con

That said, a second benefit (for Ryanair) in making everyone too warm and uncomfortable, is that the passengers are more likely to buy drinks on the flight.

But then they should never have stopped giving out the free peanuts, which would also induce a thirst. I know they were afraid of people choking, but surely an enterprising airline could charge a tenner a go for thumps on the back.

 

[Laramie]

I would have thought that the staff including pilots of Ryanair would try and make the trip as comfortable as possible for their passengers in their care. Are these pilots terrified of being accountable to Ryanair if they use a few extra gallons of fuel in making the journey that bit more comfortable.
I would also suggest that a bit of cold air will stop the pilots from dozing off as well.