Ryanair - 7

[Shed-on-a-Pole]

Hi BASED,

Thankyou for your comments and observations. Let me reply to some of your points:

In your first paragraph, you write that I am "happy to claim that only a few will follow Ryanair to another airport". I must point out that this wording is your own, not mine. I said no such thing. If you re-read my posting No.921 the very clear message is that the market is made up of many individuals who each make the decision which best suits their own circumstances. I did say that "many will not [follow Ryanair to another airport]", but in this case 'many' is used to indicate a significant number of customers (I did not anticipate your forensic analysis of my wording). I never suggested that "few" would [follow Ryanair elsewhere]. Think of it as "some will, some won't" if you want the point rephrased. Since the whole essence of the posting was about the individuality of travel decisions, I am surprised that you accuse me of generalisation in this instance. I have to agree that you were nitpicking in trying to make a point out of this!

"You have fallen in to the trap of believing some of the Ryanair 'public slagging' you love to hate." Well, in that case I must have "fallen into the trap" of believing my very reliable cousins who were caught out with the boarding card issue on a recent DUB-MAN sector for a family funeral. I have also "fallen into the trap" of believing close friends who have told me exactly why they never intend to book with Ryanair again. However, I do reconfirm that I myself would use Ryanair again should they offer me a service which matches my travel requirements. I have also made it quite clear in my previous postings that I do not have a 'downer' on Ryanair as a whole, but I do point out opportunities for the company to improve itself. A successful company will always strive to improve itself and I wish to see Ryanair optimize its success. The door should always be left open for constructive criticism from customers and shareholders of any company which values its future.

"The continuation of the DUB-MAN route is all that needs to be said in response to your kneejerk reaction belief." Erm ... may I refer you to the second paragraph, first line of my posting No.900? I think you will find that I myself raised the point regarding the profitability of that route ... I believe my description was "ultra profitable". So if you have doubts, let me be quite clear about this. My understanding is that DUB-MAN is an especially profitable route for Ryanair. I seem to recall it being listed as one of the top performers in a Ryanair annual report. I'm not surprised in the least that they didn't drop it (and I thought readers would appreciate my view on this from the comments in posting No.900). I don't for a moment suggest that the other nine MAN routes came close to the performance of this one - but then again, that is true of most other routes across the entire Ryanair network. However, I do stand by my contention that the hasty decision to axe those nine routes was indeed a kneejerk reaction. Furthermore, I did not suggest that these routes had already reached profitability/maturity/success (as they had been operating for a relatively short period of time). I'm sure I don't have to explain to you that any new route has to be built up ... few are instantly profitable straight from inception.

"What percentage of global business do you genuinely believe is based on pure economics and not corporate politics? Very little I'd wager." So let me get this right. You believe that "very little" global business is based on economics??? We will have to disagree on that one, I'm afraid! I acknowledge that corporate politics play a role, but I think you will find that economics is pretty crucial in most business plans.

"If Ryanair had an infinite supply of planes ..." Come off it, now. Nowhere have I remotely suggested that the Ryanair fleet is infinite! In fact, I don't believe that I mentioned Ryanair's fleet size at all. As for the company fleet approaching its intended compliment of 299 units, I think all regular readers on here are aware of the reason for no further aircraft orders at present. In short, the manufacturers and Ryanair could not agree mutually acceptable terms. But your claim that Ryanair's finite fleet size invalidates the points I made in my earlier postings is something else upon which we must disagree. Are you seriously suggesting that Ryanair's sudden decision to axe nine MAN routes immediately after a public spat with M.A.G. was actually made because they would only have 299 aircraft to play with? You are right that I believe that decision to have been a kneejerk one, and I absolutely stand by my claim that shareholders are not well served by petulant actions such as this.

With regard to your suggestion that Ryanair should concentrate on locations which give them the best returns ... agreed. Where did I suggest otherwise? I remind you that the nine MAN routes were axed suddenly and simultaneously to make a point. Do you seriously ask readers here to believe that all nine were deemed to be financial lost causes at exactly the same moment, just after Ryanair had its bust-up with M.A.G.? Nice coincidence. If so, we will just have to agree to disagree again and allow other readers to draw their own conclusions.

Thankyou again for your comments and feedback.

SHED.