Why Ryanair Pilots Deliberately Land Hard

Ryanair has become notorious amongst passengers for the bone-rattling firmness of their landings. Jokes about having to "brace for impact" when flying with Europe‘s largest budget airline are commonplace. But what‘s actually behind this uncomfortable landing sensation that pilots seem to intentionally create?

The reality is that Ryanair pilots purposefully utilize hard landing techniques for economic and operational efficiency reasons. The intense descents and abrupt transitions to the runway are byproducts of processes that help slash fuel burn, quicken turnarounds, and keep schedules on track.

Saving Fuel Through Continuous Descent Approaches

Ryanair routinely uses a fuel-saving technique called a continuous descent approach (CDA) when conditions allow. This involves maintaining an accelerated, steep glidepath towards the runway instead of incrementally decreasing altitude in stages. Planes descend at high rates nearly idle in a smooth slope without power changes.

By gliding down at angles of over 4 degrees instead of a typical 3 degrees, aircraft rapidly lose altitude while engines run at low thrust. This equates to major fuel savings compared to conventional stepped descents.

Chart showing over 100 kg fuel savings per flight from continuous descent approaches [source: nats.aero]

While financially and environmentally beneficial, these ultra-steep descents also mean pilots must slow the aircraft and establish ground effect rapidly in the flare. The sudden deceleration creates significant g-forces, causing the landing to feel harsh, forceful and "hard" to passengers.

Short Landing Rolls Enable Quick Turnarounds

In addition to efficient approaches, Ryanair pilots strive to slow down swiftly once wheels touch the tarmac, allowing them to exit quickly and taxi to gates for fast ground turnarounds. By using heavy braking and full reverse engine thrust, aircraft can reach taxi speeds in under 20 seconds after landing.

Quickly clearing runways is especially critical at busier airports where controllers rush to move aircraft on and off the ground to avoid delays. Ryanair in particular has extremely ambitious turnaround targets at times under 30 minutes for unloading, cleaning, catering, refueling and reboarding. So hard braking leading to shorter landing rolls directly enables shorter ground stays across the network.

Tight Scheduling and Airport Runway Constraints

While fuel savings and turnaround efficiency form key incentives behind firm landings, Ryanair pilots also face external pressures contributing to hard touchdowns.

As one of Europe‘s largest airlines flying point-to-point routes, Ryanair must adhere to strict departure and arrival slot times at coordinated airports. Airlines compete for valuable runway access so delayed arrivals can put allocated takeoff slots at risk. Ryanair routinely operates flights hitting the limits of short runway strips at many secondary airports also, giving pilots little margin for error in stopping safely.

These challenges incentivize pilots to maintain tighter control of aircraft through rapid descents and heavy braking – even if causing discomfort to passengers.

Pilot Technique and Control Inputs

Beyond scheduling and airport considerations, individual pilot techniques can also directly determine landing hardness. According to Boeing, ideal landing guidance involves smooth flaring 5-10 feet above runway level followed by gentle touchdown within 400 feet. However, Ryanair approach charts historically provided for threshold heights under 10 feet during flare. Combined with rapid power reduction on contact, this frequently led directly downwards into hard forceful landings.

Ryanair approach guidance leading pilots to lower flare heights and harder impacts

While later updated to reflect Boeing‘s 10 foot recommendation, many Ryanair pilots still utilize the prior techniques. This suggests company culture and training normalize more aggressive maneuvers contributing to uncomfortable passenger landings.

Aircraft Factors Accentuate Hard Landings

Aviation engineers confirm modern aircraft like Ryanair‘s all-Boeing 737 fleet can structurally withstand the rapid vertical forces from firm arrivals without safety implications. The rugged landing gear and momentum control features somewhat cushion the intensity too. However aircraft configuration details like loading distributions and components conditions still vary the impact sensation on passengers.

Heavier aircraft weights, aft center-of-gravity factors, older hydraulic braking systems and worn tire tread compounds all transfer higher deceleration shocks through the cabin than lighter, forward balanced planes with upgraded stopping mechanisms.

So while objectively identical vertical descent rates, two Ryanair flights can subjectively feel wildly divergent in landing hardness based solely on uneven aircraft equipment factors.

Ryanair unquestionably emphasizes financial metrics and operational efficiency as primary corporate goals. Their entire low-cost carrier model is built upon maximizing asset utilization, load factors and minimizing expenditures to yield profits. So incentivizing pilots to fly steep continuous descents and brake heavily in service of cost savings and aircraft productivity accumulates over thousands of flights annually.

However passenger surveys reveal extremely high dissatisfaction with landing hardness detracting from the overall travel experience. Over 80% of travelers indicated Ryanair‘s touchdown impacts left them uncomfortable and 20% feeling scared or unsafe.

Aviation experts counter that while clearly unpleasant, Ryanair‘s techniques pose no actual heightened safety threats given regulations and aircraft design limits not being exceeded. The priorities appear heavily weighted towards economic optimization rather than passenger care nonetheless.

As travelers flocking towards lower fares continue fueling Ryanair‘s meteoric annual growth, the airline currently shows limited impetus to soften operating tactics. But further education on ensuring smoother landings can enhance training and technology can enable fuel efficiency with better ride quality. Streamlining ground operations could also improve turnaround times without requiring harsh heavy braking.

So while economic priorities currently dominate skies, Ryanair has opportunities to chart an amended course improving passenger landing enjoyment while still landing safely always.