Cabin crew as salespeople

[Mattg]

I just came across this article containing an internal email sent by Ryanair management to its flight attendants. In the email, cabin crew are told that disciplinary action will be taken against them if they don't sell at least 1 perfume, 1 meal deal, 1 fresh food item and 8 scratch cards every day.

Here's a copy of the email:



Here's a link to the article: RYANAIR EUROPE'S GREATEST TRAINING ROBBERS OF CABIN CREW...We are in no way affiliated with Ryanair.

Now, I realise that sales targets are common in many industries but I find this wrong on a number of levels. I thought the main responsibility of cabin crew was to ensure passenger safety - not to be salespeople?!

Does anyone know if this is common industry practice, or is this just limited to Ryanair? Would Jetstar or Tiger have such a policy?

 

[Denali]

I would find a new employer.

 

[Happy Dude]

I'd hate to be told by a FA that I should have thought about needing her/his assistance when declining her/his offer to purchase perfume.

This isn't one of these viral marketing ideas, is it? You know, release something stupid/offensive etc to the media just to get attention?

 

[Mattg]

I'd hate to be told by a FA that I should have thought about needing her/his assistance when declining her/his offer to purchase perfume.

This isn't one of these viral marketing ideas, is it? You know, release something stupid/offensive etc to the media just to get attention?

No, I believe this is actual Ryanair policy.

 

[msam95]

Sadly Tigerair cabin crew which are contracted out to Altara are treated like dirt, paid a wage that is below the modern poverty line and on top of that expected to do the same with sales targets, and we wonder why the F100's from Alliance Airlines are in service #unorganisedchaos

 

[moa999]

Scary that they expect to ask 8x as many scratch cards as food items

 

[juddles]

sorry but not feeling this is real.....

 

[Mattg]

Sadly Tigerair cabin crew which are contracted out to Altara are treated like dirt, paid a wage that is below the modern poverty line and on top of that expected to do the same with sales targets, and we wonder why the F100's from Alliance Airlines are in service #unorganisedchaos

Interesting. Would you happen to know what kind of sales targets are given to Tigerair cabin crew? What are the consequences if these targets are not reached?

 

[yohy?!]

looks about right from ryanair, given the casualisation of labour in the UK they probably have no problem carrying out their threats either

 

[codash1099]

sorry but not feeling this is real.....

I agree. Who says "will be met with"?

OTOH, it is Ryanair.

 

[Happy Dude]

No, I believe this is actual Ryanair policy.

Are you sure? There's a spelling error, two punctuation errors and the sentence about "met with by their supervisor" doesn't make sense. A chimp with a pencil couldn't be less literate.

I don't doubt that they have sales targets but this communique just seems too clumsy to believe.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

If this is true it would be of concern from a safety aspect... for example a crew member on their last flight of the day and failing to meet their target might be more concerned about meeting with their supervisor than concentrating on an emergency.

 

[fairbasa]

*If true* I wouldn't think it's unreasonable to have sales targets, but that "manager" needs to re-think their management style if they want their employees to remain with the airline.

 

[anat0l]

*If true* I wouldn't think it's unreasonable to have sales targets, but that "manager" needs to re-think their management style if they want their employees to remain with the airline.

The turnover of FAs wouldn't surprise me if they cared about losing a few here or there, keeping in mind that those leaving have to remember who will supply them with a reference.

The idea of sales targets for FAs in a LCC wouldn't surprise me at all, especially at FR, and would explain a lot for their conduct on board (though not as comically overbearing as you might think). I'm not sure if those stated targets would be representative of the degree of pressure, but again it would not surprise me anyway.

As for safety, who is to say they still have those safety responsibilities, plus more (i.e. sales)? Whether or not one can argue that the imposition of sales targets is detrimental to the safety priority is difficult to call. Although their CEO did say that pilots should be replaced with a computer, and the average passenger on board their services are likely less focussed on the FAs being a beacon of safety (even in an emergency) and more focussed on how they rate on their looks.

 

[Mattg]

Well a friend of mine flew Ryanair today and asked the cabin crew on his flight about this. Apparently the crew confirmed that this is not fake, although these particular sales targets only apply to crew based in STN - other targets apply for crew from other bases.

It certainly goes some way towards explaining why most Ryanair flights feel like a constant sales pitch.

 

[Mrmaxwell]

People are funny...they see some punctuation errors and assume something is fake, rather than assuming that Lisa Ryan did not graduate with a Masters in Eng Lit!

Of course this is real - these sales are where LCCs make most profit so why wouldn't they push sales on their crew with targets?

Hey Ryan Air; how about selling products that sell themselves rather than needing your crew to push them down PAX throats!

 

[Happy Dude]

People are funny...they see some punctuation errors and assume something is fake, rather than assuming that Lisa Ryan did not graduate with a Masters in Eng Lit!

Safer than assuming she did, I'd say, but she'd be better off studying linguistics or grammar rather than literature.

But I'm not funny, just skeptical. Such poor English/communication is a dead giveaway of an internet scam, isn't it? There's a whole thread here with heaps of similarly humorous examples. Plus, it comes from a website that has a major beef with Ryanair, and who knows how hard that bloke is prepared to flog his hobby horse. But hey, this is different I'm sure.

Like I said, it's a very clumsy way to give staff a "do it or else" direction, but like others have said, it's Ryanair, so low bars all around.

 

[ButFli]

Such poor English/communication is a dead giveaway of an internet scam, isn't it?

In emails purporting to be from Ryan Air to customers, sure.

Internal emails? Honestly I'm surprised there was only one spelling mistake. Email is seen as a less formal means of communication and is treated accordingly.

 

[Happy Dude]

In emails purporting to be from Ryan Air to customers, sure.

Internal emails? Honestly I'm surprised there was only one spelling mistake. Email is seen as a less formal means of communication and is treated accordingly.

Performance requirements and potential disciplinary action should not be treated in such an informal manner. It invites the recipients to treat it's content and intent similarly. It's not a stretch to envisage the email being submitted in an arbitration or legal situation.

 

[JohnK]

Seems like they are unrealistic stretch targets. Who buys perfume in flight? The prices I have seen in inflight catalogues are not very competitive at all.