Ryanair boo-hoo; does Micheal O'Leary's 'higher taxes' moan show him up to be, well...slightly hypocritical?

Question

He complained about the control of BAA's control of the London (and the 'London') airports, including the one 37 miles from London, known to one and all as Stansted, suggesting a £1 duty increase will result in a 'collapse in demand'. That will not happen, as Ryanair - if they charge a quid to use the loo, or have a third standing from the UK to, say, Málaga, will always remain profitable.

http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/news.php?yr=09&month=jul&story=gen-en-210709

Is his sulking due to the fact that his airline's muscle to threaten airports (who would, once upon a time, have given in to his demands) who have now taken on Ryanair-stylee tactics themselves. The said airline have even announced cuts to their flights from Dublin & Shannon, had a surreal outing with Aer Lingus, and have had various run-ins with airports in Europe over charges. Is this latest episode another example of Ryanair's bully-boy behaviour?

Answer 1

O'Leary's a loud-mouthed barrow boy with zilch respect for customers, regarding them simply as millions of Units to move about at cheapest cost - each 25p he can extract being worth a huge amount. The real test of any concern is shown when things go wrong and O'Leary has a bad track record for customer care.

Recession apart there's a huge and growing demand for travel across Europe at reasonable prices. Budget airlines have met that demand but O'Leary seems to have lost the plot in his basic attitude towards customers, forgetting they are human beings and disrupted air flights can be very stressful.

His constant tinkering with fare prices, as in extra luggage charges and paying to go the loo, makes a simple procedure unduly complicated and together with his rough-house attitude he does little for the airline's image. You're right about his bullying of airports - when he fails to get his way he shifts location regardless of customer convenience.

But it's a 2-way thing - bullies always get their comeuppance and time will come when he loses key routes and Ryannair nose dives.

I use Ryannair on trips to France because it's the only way unless I travel via Manchester, But I have no sense of customer loyalty and would much prefer another carrier.

Answer 2

Wasn't it a slow news day yesterday for this to get on the front pages of some of the newspapers?



Last winter Ryanair cut the number of planes flying in and out of Standstead from 40 to 28 this winter they are cutting down to 24 so it is not a loss of 16 planes as they suggest but a loss of 4 planes. This is due entirely to a lack of demand and nothing to do with the tax being raised by £1.



How in this day and age would let one pound (two if you count there and back) effect travelling to see family or friends or just go on holiday or business.



Micheal Leary is just mouthing off against tax - if the government dropped it by £1 would we see a drop in Ryanairs prices? NO!!

Answer 3

It does, really.



Ryanair's "hey we're cheap, so don't expect luxury" image is a bit of an own goal, because their whole business model relies on business travellers paying premium prices for same day or next day travel, in order to subsidise the students and day trippers who book a weekend in Riga six months in advance. If business customers find the airline to be crap, they will choose an alternative, and Ryanair will no longer get the revenue from their premium fares.

Answer 4

I think half the time he complains or says outrageous things because its cheaper to have a full page in the newspaper reporting it than having to pay for advertising.



Any publicity is good publicity. Remember that.

Answer 5

Free advertising.He is a con man.