The Ryanair flight number FR 3310 has a special meaning for the Stuttgart Lauda crews, because that's it. Finally, over and out. The last commercial scheduled flight, which was carried out with a Lauda Airbus A320, took off at 16:20 p.m. in the direction of Malaga, that is - according to the definition of the Robert Koch Institute - risk area. Everyone was given notice in the summer, but almost no one has any new jobs.
Video impressions from the last commercial Lauda start at the Stuttgart base:
If the video is not displayed, it can also be found under this link be accessed.
Most Stuttgart Lauda pilots and flight attendants are now customers of the German employment office and the prospects for a new flying job are extremely poor in view of the corona pandemic and the currently lousy market situation. Anger, disappointment and even hatred are correspondingly deep when two names are mentioned: Ryanair and Michael O'Leary.
The Irish lowcoster was already working at Stuttgart Airport before taking over Laudamotion, but you never got happy. The Swabian market didn't think much of Ryanair, which you read so much about in the newspapers, and accordingly the performance wasn't particularly good. The name of the man with the red cap, who had passed away in the meantime, was just right, because Niki Lauda had an excellent reputation in Germany - probably due to his RTL appearances. The Irish acted accordingly quickly and withdrew the Ryanair brand from Stuttgart and pushed the Lauda brand there. At the airport, every available advertising space felt like it was paved and Terminal 1-West was even an exclusively used check-in area. The fact that no other airline wanted to check-in there is another issue, but compared to the somewhat creepy Terminal 4 it was a clear improvement for the passengers.
Not surprisingly, a base with three Airbus A320s was opened at Stuttgart Airport last year. Andreas Gruber and Michael O'Leary really raved about how great things are going in the world capital of the pretzel and the potential for growth seemed to have no limits. But in silence one could hear again and again from the Schwechat Lauda office that bookings in Stuttgart are not really long in advance. For that, Ryanair had an answer ready that still worked: Pushing ticket prices down into the single-digit euro range. But Dublin didn’t do the math with the thrifty Swabians: Why buy any extra service when you can figuratively squeeze and compress the contents of the included piece of hand luggage to the size of a cube? Why pay anything extra, € 4,99 is more than enough. Or too cheap, because as the saying goes in Swabia: What is cheap is no good or, to put it another way, there must be a catch.
Yes, the dumping price strategy to sell a Ryanair, which flies under the name Lauda with an Airbus A320, did not work out. Least of all for the staff who are constantly checking, monitoring and squeezing themselves like a lemon even before the Corona. What counted were the sales on board and that was how the cabin crew was measured. Then Corona came and from the point of view of the Stuttgart crews, this should have been the ideal pretext to close the base. Before that, pressure was still exerted on Verdi and the employees, but the Stuttgart crews refused the conditions dictated by Ryanair. What followed then? Resignations were handed out and, curiously, some job offers for Düsseldorf were received. However, these were not worth the stream of PDF files, because it did not take long before Ryanair decided to close the second German base and cancel all of them.
What began to work for Niki Lauda with great euphoria and, for some, even with pride, now ends for most when the waiting number is issued at the local employment office. What has remained is the experience that the performance of a base always depends on the mood of individual managers and that a ticket to the employment office can always be ready.
However, in the direction of Stuttgart Airport and the ground handling there, the crews of the now former Lauda base there would like to express a big thank you. “It was always a good and nice collaboration with the staff from Stuttgart Airport and from Ground Handling. The Lauda crews say: Thank you! "
Well what happened on flight FR 3310? Actually not much, you flew a few passengers from Stuttgart to Malaga and brought a few others back. As always. The only difference is: The return flight FR 3311 was the last commercial Lauda flight for the crew before unemployment in the middle of the Corona period. The prospect? Well, pretty good out the window, but probably bleak when it comes to new jobs in the industry. Then have a good night and come gud hoim.
For statistics freaks, a few hard facts at the end: On the last departure from Stuttgart (FR 3310) to Malaga there were 50 passengers. The occupancy rate was 27,78 percent. The last commercial landing of the Lauda base in Stuttgart (flight FR 3311) was seen by 105 guests. The occupancy rate was therefore 58,33 percent. What do all passengers have in common? Anyone who does not have a negative PCR test, which must not be older than 48 hours, must be tested and / or go into quarantine. From the point of view of the Robert Koch Institute, Malaga is a risk area. And now really, unfortunately for the very last time: Good night and come good hoim
Video impressions of the last arrival in Stuttgart:
If the video is not displayed, it can also be found under this link be accessed.