Let me remind you what Michael O'Leary has said in 2006 (during his interview for The Times):
When we’re the biggest airline in Europe it will inappropriate to have somebody here shouting, swearing, abusing the competition. You need more professional management than me. And that time is coming.
But no, I do not think it's the right time to replace him, I think MOL is still needed. For two reasons. He is a master in driving the costs down, he is successful in getting good deals. Blackmailing, using opportunities, exploiting, never mind. He
is good in it, that's why he's still useful. But what both Ryanair and MOL really need most, is to get a good strategist to change the marketing approach, customer relations and the route development policy. Let O'Leary be the watchman of the cost issues, let him continue as the influential man who arranges new deals and pushes the politicians and bureaucrats to take care of the carrier's prosperity, he's up to the job. But above all he and his airline really need a visionary able to tailor them a new strategy basing not only on low prices, but on the more attractive offer from the pax point of view. The assumption that just low prices will do the trick is simply wrong.
Basically, Ryanair is attracting two groups of passengers. The first one could be a minority, but not a small one. All shades of stingy people. Just they really appreciate these free flights, they do expect all these promotions, some even fly only because it's cheap, for no other reason. They do exist.
The second group is different. The price-conscious people from all social backgrounds, leisure travellers as well as some job-related commuters, students etc. Many could afford paying for much more expensive flights, but don't really see the reason to back less-efective or overcharging carriers. It's a very important group from the airline's point of view. They might be even ready to pay slightly more, but they do not want to hear the slogan: "Don't like us? Travel with others, we don't care". FR simply cannot afford to lose this group of customers. Unfortunately, the only marketing tool Ryanair seem to appreciate so far is just the level of fares. Which of the two mentioned passenger groups are they addressing this way? The right one?