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Brutally honest Ryanair CEO says: "go away" to demanding passengers
The New York Times recently sat down with Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary for what turned out to be a brutally honest interview.The essence of his interview was simple - Ryanair will get you to your destination for a very low fare, on time, with few cancellations and few lost bags. Mr O'Leary was very clear about providing anything other than the most basic of services - anyone expecting or demanding more can "go away".
The airline never grants refunds, has a zero tolerance policy for excess baggage and does not allow for rebookings or changes to unused tickets, no matter what kind of sob story you tell them.
The result of all this thriftiness is quite amazing - the average ticket price on their entire route network is just $56. In his interview, Mr. O'Leary really does paint an honest picture of how his airline operates - from a ban on highlighters and post-it notes in his offices, to his total lack of patience for email. The entire airline runs like a well oiled machine, albeit one very basic machine.
When Mr. O'Leary issues press releases about paid bathrooms, or a fat tax, everyone laughs. But at the same time, they are very well aware that he could be serious. When Ryanair speaks - the press listens, because at the end of the day, Ryanair is one of just a handful of airlines still making money.
Sure, there are always going to be people who'd rather be shot than step on board one of his planes (I'm one of them). But given his success in recent years, there are probably more people who'd rather pay $10 for a plane ticket and deal with the lack of stuff frequent fliers think they can't do without.
If anything, the biggest thing to come out of Ryanair is forcing the European legacy carriers to pay close attention, and copy parts of his business model. It is quite obvious that behind the rude and obnoxious exterior lies a brilliant businessman who is changing the aviation world one "go away" at a time.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Alex Berger Aug 3rd 2009 5:17PM
It's really like riding the bus. You're only disappointed by Ryan Air if you go into it with inaccurate expectations and don't listen.
I recently used RyanAir during a trip to fly from Dublin to Edinburgh. There were two of us - we paid close attention and played by the rules. The trip for the two of us - cost 44 Euro total, with 1 checked bag.
That's fair.
The really pathetic part is that as basic as RyanAir is - their service isn't - that - much worse than most domestic American airlines service. Flying with US Airways is only a slightly better experience for 10x+ the cost.
jack Aug 4th 2009 10:56AM
"That's fair"
Probably for u but like i read in a blog yesterday :
"When Ryanair announces its desire to make passengers stand during flights, what does that entail? It means that the cheapest prices will be not available to people who can’t stand for 2 hours. Those are mainly the d isabled, young children, older people, pregnant women"
"And it’s not only about a price. How many articles and stories have I read about Ryanair leaving passengers on their own, like the story of the man who had to carry his disabled wife into the plane himself or that of the boy with the broken leg who was forced to stand during the flight by the Ryanair crew"
"Less service mean less differential passenger treatment and more discrimination. In the world of Ryanair, it’s every man for himself".
http://airobserver.wordpress.com/
J.T. Oct 1st 2009 10:14AM
Now the Irish budget airline has announced it will scrap check-in desks at airports and passengers will face a mandatory £5.00 fee for on-line check-in. The new fee will kick in on October 1st.
Hopefully other airlines (low-cost and regulars) around the world will not share Mr. O’Leary’s views and reasons to squeeze any coin out of passenger pockets and will continue to provide a “fair” in-flight service.
http://juantadeo.wordpress.com/2009/09/30/ryanair%e2%80%a6-again/
Cheers!