Why would they behave in such a way?
mickyman -
Not being a Ryanair insider, I can only speculate that the company values a penny today more highly than a pound tomorrow. Hit the customer for a misprinted boarding card - £40 in the kitty today, but the customer never rebooks. £40 for the familys' misprinted boarding cards ... £40 multiplied by 'X' persons today, but the family never rebooks. And all their friends get to hear about it, so they don't book either. [I stand to be corrected on the £40 figure, but I think this is the current penalty charge. The principle applies either way].
Then there are all the other hidden penalties and charges, swingeing fees (per person) for using a debit card on a single booking (real transaction costs miniscule). And the fee for checking yourself in using your own time, computer and ink. There are so many aspects of the Ryanair experience which hack customers off. And that is assuming that the booking is not then abruptly changed or cancelled by the airline. Even allowing for the fact that the final fare paid may be very reasonable all considered (and often is), the customer still *feels* mugged and aggrieved.
As you say, why would they behave in such a way? But they do. And in the long term it will be retrospectively identified as having been poor business practice. The marked downturn in the aviation industry is not the result of economic problems alone; it is also a consequence of customers losing the desire to travel on discretionary vacations by air, because the experience has become stressful and unappealing. Customers - having been fleeced at the airport / abandoned / cancelled feel no urgency to rebook for another dose of this discretionary product. The excitement and allure of air travel has evaporated. It has been replaced by apprehension and dread. Ryanair has been a primary culprit in effecting this change.
If you wish to make money by selling leisure travel, then you are in the business of selling DREAMS. Deliver a nightmare, kiss your future business goodbye. Why would they do it? Why do they do it? Why indeed!
A penny gained today, a pound lost tomorrow.
SHED.