flyingirishman
I always smile when I hear people say Ryanair are the 'equivalent' to Southwest. If you look at their product they don't have that much in common - well they both fly airplanes I guess
Why do leisure and especially business travellers fly Southwest?
1) Extremely regular and reliable service between major airports in major population centres.
2) Transparant, simple and understandable fare structure.
3) No financial penalties to me when I miss or cancel a flight as I commonly do when on business. I may have to upgrade to full fare, but see (2), and I don't lose money in the process.
4) Integrated system, none of this point to point stuff and disclaimers.
5) Excellent customer service when Southwest rarely screws up.
6) Excellent customer service when I commonly screw up (and last time that happened I didn't have to pay extra)
Note nowhere did I say they are the cheapest, because they often are not. Low cost (to the pax) is a marketing term.
What do they have in common? Well, they have both changed the aviation market in their respective environments for the benefit of the consumer. They are both feared by the established major players in their respective environments, and this has benefited the consumer. They are both the way of the future in their respective environments, which is also a good thing for the consumer.
I don't think Ryanair in their current format would thrive in the US like they do in Europe, it's a different environment, and Ryanair's T&C would not be very popular over here. But in current day Europe they will do well, and they should be admired and supported for that.
So this is not a Ryanair bash, in fact its supposed to be complimentary. People who try to change things tend to be unpopular in established circles, which is probably why Ryanair gets such bad press for turning the established aviation world upside down. What I do find interesting is MOL and HK have totally different public faces, which probably also says more about the different environments. Horses for courses I guess.
Regards.