Jun 20th, 2011 at 8:00AM: I am jealous of Michael O'Leary. Very. The CEO of super-low-rent European discounter Ryanair, O'Leary has developed a reputation. He's loud. He says what's on his mind. He really doesn't care what you think about him. He's probably broken every rule of public relations and investor relations. I've been with Gadling since December 2008, and O'Leary has been a great source of posts every step of the ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
MichaelOLeary posts
Five reasons I'm insanely jealous of Michael O'Leary
Jun 20th, 2011 at 8:00AM: I am jealous of Michael O'Leary. Very. The CEO of super-low-rent European discounter Ryanair, O'Leary has developed a reputation. He's loud. He says what's on his mind. He really doesn't care what you think about him. He's probably broken every rule of public relations and investor relations. I've been with Gadling since December 2008, and O'Leary has been a great source of posts every step of the ...Ryanair CEO wants someone else to pay taxes
Jun 7th, 2011 at 2:30PM: Michael O'Leary – loved, presumably, by his mother and probably not many else – truly wants passengers to pay less to fly. Of course, that's the point of a low-cost carrier like Ryanair, right? Well, O'Leary, the airline's CEO, loves his passengers so much that he doesn't want them to pay taxes. At least, not the UK's Air Passenger Duty.
Someone has to get slammed, though. If one ...Ryanair's Micheal O'Leary delivers earnings report as only he can pull off
Jan 31st, 2011 at 1:30PM: Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary is probably the most insane airline CEO in the world - but at the same time, he's probably one of the most brilliant. Even when global airlines went into a panic during the recent economic meltdown, his airline stayed profitable, and his numbers usually outshine those of many legacy carriers.
So, when Mr. O'Leary held a conference call with members of the press to ...Don't piss off Ryanair: Disgruntled pilot transferred to Lithuania
Dec 8th, 2010 at 3:00PM: Thanks to OnlineTravelReview for this gem: A Ryanair pilot has quit after being transferred to Lithuania, allegedly in response to his remarks against CEO Michael O'Leary in the Financial Times newspaper.
Captain Morgan Fischer, a five year RyanAir pilot with more than 20 years of experience, is the first senior staff member to comment publicly against his employer. He wrote a letter in ...Ryanair insanity: Captain Morgan suggests mutiny, ordered to Lithuania
Dec 7th, 2010 at 1:30PM: If I could make this stuff up, I'd become a novelist. Seriously.
Captain Morgan Fischer, a pilot with Ryanair, decided to try out the type of stunt for which his boss, Michael O'Leary, is famous. And, he learned what happens when you tangle with a master media whore.
Apparently implying that O'Leary is a moron, Fischer took public issue with the company CEO's notion that a co-pilot could be ...Ryanair pushing ahead with $6 standing room only seats and paid bathrooms
Jul 1st, 2010 at 10:00AM: Last year, Ryanair first mentioned their concept for several rows of standing only seats. The idea back then was to install special standing seats and offer them for a reduced fee.
The new seating innovation has not been implemented yet, but Michael O'Leary wants everyone to know that he is still very serious about it, and hopes to pay for the new seats with proceeds from the paid bathrooms he ...Ryanair paid bathrooms are really going to happen - perhaps
Apr 6th, 2010 at 10:30AM: The story behind the Ryanair paid bathroom concept is a really weird one. The idea was first mentioned by their slightly insane CEO, Michael O'Leary. Then the story was debunked by their own spokesperson.
And now, in a not so surprising twist, the airline has confirmed that paid bathrooms will indeed be coming to their planes -albeit in a phased introduction.
...Ryanair still serious about transatlantic plans -- but stays realistic
Jan 17th, 2010 at 2:00PM: In a recent interview with a Dutch newspaper, Ryanair founder Michael O'Leary sat down to discuss the future of his airline. The fastest growing airline in the world still operates out of a tiny office complex in Dublin, with no intention of moving to the kind of slick all-glass towers his competitors fill.
When asked about the crisis in the aviation world, he laughs - "what crisis". In 2009, ...Ryanair passengers denied water in a five hour delay
Dec 28th, 2009 at 9:00AM: Ryanair passengers stuck for five hours on the tarmac at London Stansted last Monday were given ice cubes to fight the stuffy, hot conditions. Just the cubes. Suck on that.
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Six inches of snow fell tauntingly outside as passengers cooked, free of air ...Ryanair threaten to drop Italy
Dec 24th, 2009 at 3:00PM: Ryanair is saying it might ditch Italy ... and it's not just a publicity stunt. The low-cost airline says that new rules on which forms of identification are acceptable for boarding compromise security. The new reg, from Italy's civil aviation authority, ENAC, makes licenses for driving, fishing and hunting fine for use at the gate, along with government badges and other documents.
This isn't ...Ryanair could change forever
Nov 29th, 2009 at 3:00PM: What would Ryanair do without those gusts of hot air from Michael O'Leary? The company has been defined by cheap flights and the streams of absurdities uttered by its chief executive officer. Without O'Leary, Ryanair is nothing more than an uncomfortable seat for the price of a martini. Well, the big guy is planning to step down in two to three years, he said on Saturday. He's said this before, of ...Ryanair threatens to "divorce" Boeing
Nov 4th, 2009 at 3:00PM: Ryanair may start to look for its planes closer to home. Of course, saying it was thinking about a switch from Boeing to Airbus would be far too simple for CEO Michael O'Leary ... the genius behind "pay-to-pee" and many, many other stunts. O'Leary needs a bit more style, which is why his new intentions are being called "divorce."
O'Leary believes that the management shakeup at Boeing has taken the ...Will passengers stand for latest Ryanair stunt?
Jul 6th, 2009 at 1:30PM: Just when you think Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary can't come up with another way to mess with his passengers, he takes away the seats. The European low-cost carrier's latest way to cut costs and cram more people on planes is to stick them on stools with seatbelts. According to the Daily Mail, he's even spoken with Boeing about making this happen.
The nice expression for this, used Ryanair ...Pay to pee on Ryanair no joke
Jun 5th, 2009 at 4:30PM: Remember when we called Ryanair's plans to charge for lavatory access a stunt? Yeah, we do, too. Those were simpler days, I guess. It turns out, that stunt concealed an even larger one. CEO Michael O'Leary announced that the airline will begin charging one pound (around $1.65) for access to the special rooms at the front and back of the plane.
I actually see some restraint on the press-whorish ...Airline complains about fees?!
May 28th, 2009 at 1:30PM: Like all airlines, Qantas is looking to cut costs. And, it saw an opportunity by forming partnerships with some of Australia's airports. If all were to go according to plan, Qantas could make a dent in its annual airport costs of $544 million (AU$700 million). While some airports are willing to play ball, others (like Sydney and Brisbane) aren't ... leaving an airline to complain about fees, for a ...Ryanair: print your tickets at home or not, you pay
May 19th, 2009 at 1:00PM: We're all used to airline fees that punish inconvenient behavior. So, I was beyond impressed when Ryanair found a way to punish the helpful ... and punish the helpless. Starting on May 20, passengers will have to pay €10 if they print their own tickets. Essentially, taking matters into your own hands and saving time and expense at the airport will cost you somewhere between $10 and $15.
It ...Ryanair: get in shape, carry your own bags
May 10th, 2009 at 8:00AM: European object of disdain low-cost carrier Ryanair is always looking for ways to save a few bucks. From pay-to-piss to the fat tax, the airline has put forth a stream of ideas that really haven't gotten off the ground. Well, CEO Michael O'Leary has a new one to add to the list: mandatory luggage self-service.
Under this new model, passengers would carry their bags through airport security and ...Flight delays may be wrinkle in Ryanair fat tax
May 2nd, 2009 at 12:00PM: Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary says he'll only move forward with plans to charge oversized passengers for extra seats if it's easy. If it slows down the process of checking people in and getting planes pushed back from the gate, he wants no part of making more money.
Surprisingly, O'Leary didn't comment on whether larger passengers would slow planes down, causing further delays. The media whore ...Ryanair CEO: Swine flu only affects 'slum dwellers'
Apr 28th, 2009 at 4:00PM: I'm apprehensive about giving any press to the buffoon who runs the Irish budget airline Ryanair. But so adept is Michael O'Leary, the company's CEO, at making ill-considered statements that its simply too easy to report them. This is the guy who recently suggested that Ryanair might begin charging for use of its on board toilets, and a while back suggested that the airline might start giving out ...Ryanair - to pay to pee or not to pay to pee?
Feb 28th, 2009 at 11:00AM: Oh Ryanair, how you mock us. Yesterday, every news source in the world (well, many of them) were abuzz with the news that Ryanair exec Michael O'Leary announced he'd be introducing coin operated bathrooms on his planes. Normally, when an airline owner announces something on the news, you take it seriously. Apparently that is no longer possible when it comes to stuff O'Leary says. The latest ...
