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#1 Week 3 of the Ryanair course in Dublin, six weeks total, and I am writing this on a Sunday because the forum gave me so much before I started and I want to give something back while it is still fresh.
The set up
Course of 22 at the training centre near the airport. Mix of Irish, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, two Brazilians with EU passports, one South African. Ages 19 to 38. Everyone on the same contract in our group, which is the agency contract with a training cost that comes out over the first year. Read it before you sign, but it is what it is.
Weeks 1 and 2
Induction, the company, the aircraft (737-800 and the MAX 8-200, and the differences matter for the exam), then straight into SEP. Doors, slides, equipment, drills. First exam end of week 2. Pass mark 88. Two of our 22 failed it, both passed the resit the next day. The trainers were fair and clearly wanted people to pass, which was not what the internet told me to expect.
Week 3, this week
Fire and smoke in the rig, which was the best day so far, and the pool. Now, the swimming. The Ryanair page says you need to be able to swim. What that means in practice: 25 metres unaided, then the life jacket drill and the raft. One person on our course had told nobody she was a weak swimmer and it became a whole afternoon. She passed with the instructor beside her but it was stressful for everyone. If you cannot swim 25 metres, learn before the course. Six lessons at any pool will do it.
Also this week: first aid started. CPR on the manikins, timed. The AED. Choking. It is good content and easy to learn.
The sales module
Everyone jokes about it and then it is a real module with a real assessment. How to present the trolley, how to run the scratch card announcement, how to handle a customer who says no without being pushy, how the commission works. The trainer was honest: the crew who earn well sell well. It is not optional and it is not sinister. It is a shop that flies.
Trainers
Strict on time and uniform, relaxed and helpful on content. Late twice and you get a formal conversation. Miss a day without a medical certificate and you are likely off the course. One of our 22 is now 21 for exactly that reason, week 2, Monday, no call. Do not be that person.
The days
8:00 to 16:30, study in the evenings, one day off. I am doing about 90 minutes of flashcards a night and it is enough because I started them on day one. The people doing three hours are the people who started in week 2.
Money during training
Not paid during training on our contract. Budget for six weeks with no income plus Dublin rent, which is the actual hard part of the course. Nobody warns you about that part loudly enough.
Three weeks to go, then the wings, then the base allocation, which is its own thread. Happy to answer questions.
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#2 Galway, assessment in three weeks, and the 'not paid during training plus Dublin rent' line is the thing I have been trying to get a straight answer on for a month. Thank you. Budgeting for it now.
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#3 Dublin crew, four years. All of this matches. The base allocation thread will be interesting because it is the one part of the process people are genuinely surprised by. You put preferences, the company puts you where it needs you. Be ready to hear 'Kaunas' or 'Malta' and be happy about it.
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#4 Number one, Dublin. The swimming paragraph should be on the careers page. Every course has one person who hid it. Every time it becomes an afternoon.
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#6 Bergamo number one, and I want to underline the trainers being fair. The internet myth of Ryanair training as a boot camp is out of date. It is strict and it is fair. Those are different things.
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#7 easyJet Edinburgh, finished this summer, and it is fascinating how similar the structure is: the same SEP first, the same week 3 pool and fire, the same first aid. The sales module is the one difference. Ours is smaller. Yours sounds like the real thing.
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#8 easyJet Gatwick week 2 and reading this to feel less alone. Ninety minutes of flashcards from day one is the advice I did not follow and am now catching up on.
