From the business news we learned today about the second profit-warning given by Ryanair in a short time
Ryanair was down by nearly 13% in Dublin after it said its profits for the year to March 31 may dip to as low as 500 million euro (£423.3 million), from the 569 million euro achieved a year earlier.
In June 2009 I wrote here:
Despite the drop in demand it has inflicted, the present economical crisis has given Ryanair and its cheap-fares model some additional time. The dramatic drop in fuel prices has made ”free-flights” viable once again, that's what folks are waiting for, presumably. At least for a while it will be possible to continue that way, to break-even next year or so, but in a longer run it's a very short-sighted policy.
(...)This additional time could and should have been used by FR to re-think and re-shape its business model. The "given" time could have been used to create a new approach to customers, to gain some independence from the ”buy because it is cheap” policy.
For many years, Ryanair has rejected any need to create a better brand, to attract other customers than the most sparing and stingy ones. As if it didn't matter that people could buy flights not only due to their cheapness, as if it was unthinkable that somebody could choose Ryanair just to get the most suitable connections with them. Instead, Ryanair has educated many people how NOT to pay for flights, how to AVOID charges, how to be SMARTER than FR want pax to behave.
Well, it's really funny to be able to get something for free from time to time, everybody likes it. But to make it possible, one has to care for those who actually want to PAY, it's not very wise to neglect them.
Thus, while many airlines pray for the end of the economical crisis, I'm not sure if it brings the solution to Ryanair's problems. Once the fuel prices are sky-high once again, FR will not be in a position to offer many free flights without further loss of the profitability. To cope with such a scenario, they should have already introduced some diversification of their offer, should have made in-depth analysis and should have created a different, consumer-centered system. As nothing happened yet, I dare to say FR is losing this relief time brought by the crisis. They simply do not see any need for change, bad for them, I'd say.
Now they seem to have noticed the need for changes, eventually. Could have started much earlier, if you ask me.