Cork advocate for senior citizens says Ryanair boarding pass plan is 'appalling'

An advocate for senior citizens in Cork has called on the transport minister and the minister of state for older people to address the “appalling” decision made by Ryanair to implement paperless boarding before the end of the year.

Ryanair confirmed this week that it will move to a fully digital boarding process this November, seeing passengers travelling to and from Cork Airport required to make a switch to digital boarding passes only.

The budget airline announced on Wednesday that all passengers will be required to present a digital boarding pass from November 12.

The move comes in a bid to encourage passengers to utilise the airline’s digital platform, where a customer’s digital boarding pass will be generated via the Ryanair app.

Paddy O’Brien, who is an advocate for senior citizens in Cork, said the move to a paperless system will lock the older generation out of travel.

“This is an appalling situation,” said Mr O’Brien.

“I’m dealing with people on a daily basis who find it hard to make a phonecall — this is desperate — it’s an awful situation to spring on anyone.

“I would implore the minister for transport and the minister for older people to step in and do something about this — it’s no trouble to young people, it’s principally older people who will be affected.

“I can’t express how disappointed I am that an organisation can come along and penalise a group of people for their lack of IT skills.

“The Government should and must have a say here. There will be loads of senior citizens who can’t go on a holiday, so many people will be affected by this.

“What comes to my mind straight off is that this is just the beginning — how long will it be before other airlines decide to do the same?”

This initiative is the latest step in Ryanair’s digital transformation, having already rolled out several new in-app features last year. This includes the in-flight order-to-seat scheme, where passengers can pre-order their food and drinks to their seat via the app.

According to the airline, almost 80% of its 206m passengers already use digital boarding passes.

'PATRONISING'

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said that it is “patronising” to suggest older people will not migrate to digital boarding passes.

Speaking to journalists in Dublin yesterday, Mr O’Leary said that he was “amazed by the outrage” following the airline’s announcement.

“I’m old, and I travel [with] Ryanair on a very regular basis,” said Mr O’Leary.

“I use the Ryanair app, it is pretty simple [and] pretty easy to use.

“It is slightly patronising, this notion that old people can’t and won’t move to mobile technology, or to the apps.

“They will just convert and move because that’s what they do.”