Apainful experience

Sir, - I have flown on commercial jets all over the world since the days of the BOAC Comet in 1960.

In that time I have never seen passengers treated by any airline in the arrogant and high handed manner dished out by Mr O’leary of Ryanair.

We have recently gone through a daily period of uncertainty as to whether our Ryanair flight would materialise and it ruined our holiday.

To contrast our experiences, we flew out Edinburgh to Faro with Jet 2 on September 18.

The flight was on time and we enjoyed immaculate, and swift, cabin service.

The return journey via Ryanair on September 25 was a disaster and a dreadful flight.

Ryanair ground staff must have known the inbound plane was 50 minutes late – but we were still herded in a departure pen, like cattle.

There were not enough seats and we had to stand for 50 minutes with no explanation or apology.

I am 81 years old and having had recent hip replacement surgery it was a very painful experience.

Next, we were put on a bus and driven a long way from the carousels and spotted an incoming Ryanair aircraft, just coming to a halt.

We were told to get off the bus and then stood there in the 30C heat for 30 minutes while the passengers got off and the plane was readied for boarding.

Once finally in the air the cabin service was atrocious, with the crew arguing, slow and unhelpful.

Ryanair will doubtless suffer an enormous loss of passenger confidence, and they deserve to do so.

All over Europe passengers will desert the company in droves. Hamish H Carlton. Gowrie Cottage, Little Dunkeld.