Nasty piece of work O'Leary (CEO or Ryanair, for those across the pond not familiar with the beast) has said many times that two hull losses would probably spell the end for the company.
Actually no. What he has said is that ryanair can withstand two hull losses. Somewhat different and with frightening implications. The ryanair management have done the numbers and decided it's cheaper to run everything cheaply and pay for the losses.
EZY and Ryan have been going for 10 years, where are the crashes? You can't say "it's only a matter of time" forever. Of course it'll happen some day, but EVERY ex-BA, SA, VS, etc. old timer I have flown with at EZY says that the safety culture at EZY is remarkable.
Sadly for ryanair crew and pax, the safety culture at ryanair is not comparable to easy. The reports from easy on this matter are excellent. The same is not true in ryanair. The number of incidents in ryanair is truly frightening. You will have heard of many in the media, and perusal of the reports will lead you to realise just how lucky we have been. Most, however, don't make the media but you would be truly shocked if you knew what goes on.
Regrettably the standards have shown a very obvious decline in the last year or two and it is the belief of many ryr pilots that a hull loss will happen. When the pilots are of that belief I believe it's legitimate and of enormous concern.