by Alan Ruddock
O’Leary and Ryanair have been part of deeper economic and cultural changes that transcend the airline industry. Labour-market mobility – one key to a functioning, integrated and expanding European Union – has been facilitated by the low-cost revolution, with Ryanair, easyJet and local rivals providing cheap travel for hundreds of thousands of eastern Europeans who want to earn a decent living. And ‘short break’ air tourism, a phenomenon that barely existed before Ryanair, is now an enormous phenomenon.
The maturing of Ryanair from irritating upstart to major European carrier causes O’Leary to muse aloud about his own future at the airline. He says he will leave Ryanair in ‘two or three years’ time’ – though he has been saying that for a number of years. He argues that there will come a point when Ryanair requires a more conventional management style. ‘When we’re the biggest airline in Europe it will be inappropriate to have somebody here shouting, swearing, abusing the competition. You need more professional management than me. And that time is coming,’ he says. His successor may come from the ranks of the existing management team – Michael Cawley and Howard Millar are the most likely candidates – but could just as easily come from outside the organization.
Either way, when O’Leary leaves he says he will leave completely, refusing a seat on the board or even the offer of the chair.
He says there will have to be a clean break, and the new chief executive will not need him in the background ‘banging on about the business’. For the moment, though, O’Leary remains on course to fulfil his ambitions. He will, too, continue to make enemies. As Tony Ryan noted in one of his earliest proposals for a new airline, quoting Machiavelli,
There is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new order of things. For the reformer has enemies in all those who profit by the old order, and only lukewarm defenders in all those who would profit by the new order, this lukewarmness arising partly from fear of their adversaries, who have the laws in their favour; and partly from the incredulity of mankind, who do not truly believe in anything new until they have had actual experience of it.
O’Leary’s reform of the skies is almost complete, but he still waits for news from Brussels on his proposed hostile takeover of Aer Lingus. It is unlikely that he will get approval. Despite his strident claims that a Ryanair-controlled Aer Lingus would be good for competition, the creation of such a dominant company in a relatively small corner of the European market is expected to prove a step too far for Europe’s competition regulators.
The combined clout of Ryanair and Aer Lingus in Dublin would not be significantly different to Air France/KLM’s dominance of Paris and Amsterdam, but O’Leary faces the hostility rather than support of his government. EU lawmakers will, however, be trying to ensure that any reasons they give for blocking O’Leary’s ambitions cannot be used in future years to prevent the widely anticipated mergers between Europe’s traditional airlines. Open Skies will bring as many risks as it does opportunities and it is likely that a number of major airlines will, in time, be forced into defensive mergers as they face intense competition from US carriers on the lucrative routes to North America. Europe does not want to create a precedent that could block those mergers so will tread warily. O’Leary professes to be unconcerned, and knows that even if he is prevented from taking it over, Aer Lingus remains vulnerable and an attractive target for other airlines. In time, he may sell the Ryanair holding at a profit but for the moment he can sit tight and irritate the Aer Lingus management by using his position as a minority shareholder to demand improved performance.
Ryanair, in any case, is on course to become Europe’s largest airline by 2011, overtaking Air France/KLM and Lufthansa, but O’Leary’s hunger has yet to be sated. ‘I was always driven,’ he says, ‘and I was always competitive. Maybe I was kicked by somebody at some stage, but if I was I don’t remember it. Why are you the way you are? I haven’t a bloody bull’s notion. Would I want to spend a lot of time analysing myself? No. I think you make things happen. But an awful lot of things happen, and not because you are in control of them. The harder you work the luckier you get. You make your own breaks.’
He may talk of retirement, of trying new challenges and of devoting more time to his family and his farm, but as he said in November 2006, when questioned by stock market analysts, ‘You just have to remember that I also said that I would retire in 1992, that I would retire in 1995, and I think again in 1998. Some of my forecasts have not turned out to be terribly accurate.’
Or as one former colleague says, ‘I’ll only believe it when I see him being carried out of Ryanair in a box. With a stake through his heart.’
Acknowledgements
This book would not have happened without Laura Noonan’s determined research and relentless encouragement. She dug for information, talked to scores of people and assembled what she uncovered in carefully prepared files. Despite the increasing demands of her own burgeoning career she stayed with the project to the bitter end, checking, rechecking and adding new information. I am indebted to her.
I also stretched to breaking point the patience of my publisher at Penguin Ireland, Michael McLoughlin, with my disregard for deadlines and publication dates. The trouble with Ryanair and Michael O’Leary is that they never pause for breath, and there is never a natural end point for a book about a business that refuses to stop growing, changing and surprising.
My thanks too to Natasha Fairweather, my agent at AP Watt, who managed to retain her sense of humour throughout this project and whose enthusiasm never dimmed.
Many, many people have helped me along the way, providing insight (and prejudice) both on and off the record. They will recognize their contributions.
Tony Ryan kindly provided me with his original business plans for Irelandia, the project that emerged a few years later as Ryanair. Without his determination and willingness to risk his personal fortune on a dream, there would be no Ryanair, and no book.
As the epigraph suggests, Michael O’Leary had no interest in this book. I have, however, interviewed him on a number of occasions for newspapers and magazines, and have drawn extensively from those interviews.
And finally my apologies to my family, who have endured the frustrations of the process, and who have waited with decreasing patience for me to finish so that I could honour my initial promise: that, once finished, I would give up smoking.
– Alan Ruddock
* Ryanair switched to reporting in euros when the new currency was introduced in 2002.
Index
Aberdeen Angus cattle 157, 274
advertising 141–2, 146–7, 237, 238, 250–52, 259
Aer Arann 23–4, 232
Aer Lingus
and GPA 17
Tony Ryan and 19
and competition 22–3, 24, 25–6, 27–8, 29, 30
in 1980s 26–7
Dublin–London service 39
competing with Ryanair 43–4, 52, 53, 65
oppose Ryanair’s proposed services 40, 41, 42
operations from Manchester 52–3
O’Neill sues 56–7
and changes in government policy 65–8, 69–72
battling with Ryanair again 78–9
and GPA flotation 94, 105, 107
offer to buy Ryanair 105–7
worst year ever 107–8
state aid 108–111, 115–17, 205–6
website 226
pilots 232
drop Stansted service 239
financial problems 239–40
effects of 9/11 284
Dublin–Edinburgh service 292
best value award 335
Willie Walsh and 373–83
Ryanair assault on 3 94–6
partial sale of 403–6, 407, 408
Ryanair acquires stake in 408–13
Aer Lingus Express 108, 205
Aer Rianta
extension plans for Dublin airport 134
and Rya
nair 135–6
and baggage handlers dispute 187, 188, 204
charges at Dublin airport 195, 196
Ryanair rebates from 203
charges dispute at Dublin airport 210–13 214, 216, 218–19, 247–8
and MO’L proposals for new Dublin terminal 221–2, 236, 237–8
and Shannon airport 235–6
MO’L attacks on 256, 344
sue Ryanair 261–2
and independent airport regulator 279
proposed extension at Dublin airport 280
complaint about Ryanair to Competition Authority 293–4
and low-cost facility at Dublin airport 290, 297
continuing disputes with MO’L 291, 335, 336–8
break-up of 338–9
Ahern, Bertie 69
and airline policy in 1989 69
and baggage handlers dispute 188, 189, 197
MO’L and 297
Mara and 298
and Mary O’Rourke 304–5
self-proclaimed socialism 373
and Aer Lingus 373, 378, 379, 379–81, 382, 383–4, 405, 408
and Dublin airport 388, 389
AirAsia 370
Air Berlin 403, 417
Air Canada and GPA 17, 94
Air Deccan
Air France 40, 216, 312, 339, 412
Air UK 131
Airbus 176, 191, 285–7, 294–6
Airbus A320 jets 90
aircraft
Ryanair fleet 90, 117–18, 147, 174, 176–7, 190–92, 216–17, 253
turnaround time 87, 87–8, 178, 223–4
airfares
beginning of low 28–32, 86, 88
Ryanair and low 88–90, 240–41, 245–6, 248
price controls 100–101
airline industry 1980s 25
European deregulation 52, 99–101
cabotage and 130, 175
European mergers 254, 256
9/11 and 283–5, 287
Open Skies 376, 377
and London bombings 389–90
oil prices 390–91, 403
environmental issues and 416
airport charges
Dublin 135, 136, 195, 207–8, 210–13, 218–19
Kerry 217–18, 232–5
Manchester 219–20
Alitalia 215, 284
American Airlines 284
Amsterdam, services to 39, 40
Ancona airport 214, 277
ASAs (Advertising Standards Authorities) 237, 238, 251–2
ATGWU 172
ATR 42 90
Avair 22–3
Ayling, Bob 255
BA see British Airways
BAA see British Airports Authority
BAC One-Eleven jets 90
baggage, charging for 391, 392, 418
baggage handlers dispute at Dublin airport 172–3, 178–80, 182–3, 185–90, 203–5
Baldonnel, plans for airport at 133–4, 220–21
Baldwin, Caroline 215
Banotti, Mary 184
Barrable, Barry 176
Barrett, Sean 30–31
Beauvais airport 148, 149, 161, 259–60
Beckett, John 228–30, 247
Bell, Brian 83, 150
Bellew, Peter
and Ryanair Holidays 72–3
marketing manager at Kerry airport 149–50, 217, 233, 234–5, 326–7
Berger, Bernard 90–91, 121, 317
Bergin, Rita 256
Big Brother 252
Bisignani, Giovanni 390
Blair, Captain Charles 23–4
Blair, Tony 281
Blaney, Paddy 140
Blue Skies 178
Boeing 176–7, 190–91, 285–7, 294–7, 366–71
Boeing 737 jets
Southwest Airlines 87
Ryanair 117–18, 147, 191, 216, 253, 296
easyJet 254
800 series 295
forward airstairs 368
Bonderman, David
investment in Ryanair 140–41, 142, 144
chairman of Ryanair 151
and London flotation 200–201, 201–2
sells shares in Ryanair 218, 219
and Ryanair stake in Aer Lingus 408, 409
Brady, Conor 221
Brady, Warwick
Branson, Richard 114–15, 208
Brazil, Tony 108
Brennan, P.J. 158
Brennan, Seamus
minister of transport 65–6, 67–70, 72, 99
opposition transport spokesman 135
minister of transport again 305–6, 308–10, 336, 338, 339
and MO’L and taxi 342
and cabinet reshuffle 371, 381
on Aer Lingus 384
Bright, Toby 296, 370
Brit Air 312, 339
British Airports Authority (BAA) 64–5, 406
British Airways (BA)
in 1980s 25, 60
Dublin–London route 39
pulling out of Irish routes 77–8
and London-Scotland route 131
franchise partners 138
negotiations to buy stake in Ryanair 138–9
low-cost operator 178, 201, 208, 254, 255, 291–2, 294
merger talks with KLM 254, 256
sue Ryanair 260–61
effects of 9/11 284
fuel surcharges 390–91
British Midland 114, 130–31
Brosnan, Denis 150
Brown, John 346
Buckley, Chris 191, 286, 294
Burke, John 211, 212
Buzz 254, 256, 321–5, 329
Byrne, Brian J. 261–2
cabotage 130, 175
Cahill, Bernie 105–8, 115, 375
Callaghan, Jim 317, 319
carbon emissions 415-16
Carcassonne airport 198–9
cargo services 175
Cassani, Barbara 201, 255, 291–2, 294
Cassidy, Donie 2, 305
Castlepollard, Westmeath 9
catering department, Ryanair 77
Catholic Church 250–51
Cawley, Michael
chief financial officer Ryanair 177–8
interview after Labour Court report 204–5
and Ryanair deal with Hertz 209
and setting up website 229
and Kerry airport 233, 234
and Rimini airport 276–7
and communications 310
promotion 316, 317, 320
at Monday meetings 319
possible successor to MO’L 365, 418
press conference at Dublin airport 385, 386
and Cork airport 402–3
Channel 4 documentary on Ryanair 397–8, 399–400
Chapman, Phil 125
Charleroi airport 148
and new Ryanair services 149, 161
Ryanair European base 270–72, 287–8
European Commission investigation 312–16, 354–60
new deal with Ryanair 394
Chatty, Kerim Sadok 308
Cheltenham Festival 2006 400–402
Christian Brothers school, Mullingar 3
Cityjet 114–15
Clifton, Charlie 42, 43, 77, 118, 142, 169, 317
Clongowes Wood College 7–8, 10–12
Club Travel 28–9
Clune, Flan 256
Collins, Andrew 332
Collins, Liam 348–9
Competition Authority, Irish 159, 293–4
Connolly, Gerry 22–3, 81
Continental 284
Conway, Ray 317, 318
Cooney, Pat & Marie 244, 245
Cork airport
Ryanair move into 43, 44
Ryanair services to 98, 99, 119
price rises 279
planned overhaul 337–8
separate company to run 338, 339
and Ryanair 402–3
corner shops, MO’L’s 33–5
Corvi, Carolyn 367, 370
Cowen, Brian 116–17, 184, 409
Coyle, Sean 229,
246–7, 331
credit cards, Ryanair affinity 334
Cullen, Garry 239–40
Cullen, Martin 371, 405, 409
DAA (Dublin Airport Authority) 339, 388–9, 410
Dan Air 38, 100
Darley Ltd 184
de Palacio, Loyola 313, 355–6, 358, 359, 360
Debonair 137–8, 177
Delta 284
deregulation in Europe 52, 99–101
Dilger, Greg 11–12
Doganis, Rigas 297
dot-com boom 226
Dowling, Brian 252
Dowling, Denise 243, 244–5, 245
Dublin airport
Ryanair’s first service from 37, 38, 39, 42
Ryanair service application refused 39–41
Ryanair new services from 44, 52, 53
Ryanair services to Stansted 64, 99
Ryanair sole carrier routes 70, 78
Ryanair low fares from 88–90
Ryanair services from in 1994 119
terminal extension plans 134
Ryanair new services from 134, 149, 175, 176
trade unions 172–3, 178–80, 182–3, 185–90, 203–5
Ryanair offices 184–5
MO’L’s proposals for new terminal 195–8, 221–2, 235–7
charges dispute 207–8, 210–13, 218–19, 247–8, 280
MO’L attacks on 256
new aviation regulator and 279
Go and Ryanair clash 291–4
low-cost airline facilities 290, 297, 309
new terminal 280, 309–310, 336–7, 339, 388–9
new company to run 338, 339
MO’L and 385–7
Ryanair new routes from 407–8
and Ryanair stake in Aer Lingus 410, 412
Dunne, Brian 373, 382–3
Dunphy, Eamon 311
duty-free goods 206–7, 212
easyJet
a new airline 132–3, 137
telemarketing 158
expanding 175, 201, 254–5
online sales 226, 227
and Airbus 368
future expansion plans 417
easyJet Switzerland 201, 254
Eddington, Rod 255
Egan, Sir John 65
environmental issues 415–16
European Commission