Flightmapping > News > October 04 > Micheal O'Leary
Michael O'Leary has been quoted as saying that he may be ready to leave Ryanair "in about 5 years".
Flightmapping Comment:
Many people within the industry will breathe a sigh of relief when Michael O'Leary decides to move on, as they do not appreciate his hostile negotiating tactics, and his anti trade union stance. Environmentalists also like to single out Ryanair for having the most aggressive growth policy, and for giving away so many free flights, when they believe it would-be a lot more "sustainable" to leave the planes on the ground when demand is low.
Passengers also have mixed views on O'Leary, whose attitude when dealing with complaints often goes along the lines of "F**k off, you are not getting a refund". Of course what many of these passengers forget is that Ryanair have enabled them to travel very cheaply in the first place, and have opened up possibilities to travel to a huge range of destinations which would not previously have been possible.
For airports, Ryanair's custom requires substantial discounting in order to be won (even major hubs such as Manchester had to offer 90%+ reductions in handling fees in order for Ryanair to come in and offer cheap flights to Dublin ). However, Ryanair's response to this would be that even with the handling fees discount, airports can still bring in enormous revenues gained from car parking, car hire, airport shopping, airport hotels, and numerous other ancillary products.
No-one would doubt that O'Leary has done a great deal to turn around the fortunes of Ryanair from a small and struggling regional airline to being the leading force in no-frills flights across Europe. Many will argue that if he is not already outstayed his welcome, he will have done if he stays on another five years. In the meantime, we shall continue to enjoy his colourful outbursts, and of course all those cheap flights to far flung corners of Europe that Ryanair brings us.
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