Ryanair changing spots?

[25F]

BBC News - Ryanair's O'Leary to end 'abrupt culture' (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24177834)
I always thought that part of the business model involved "unnecessarily annoying customers" because this would reinforce the message - "if it's this cr*p, it MUST be the cheapest option".

[grumbles69]

If they are going to get rid of the things that annoy the passengers then they can start by sacking MOL. That would be a good start!! ;)

[PAXboy]

If they manage to change something that has been built into every single brick of the FR ethos across 25 years - I'd be surprised.

[ExXB]

What a CEO says to shareholders and what s/he does is not always the same thing.

More free advertising for Cryanair.

[L'aviateur]

I suspect that its all tied in with the profit warning, perhaps a slight change of tact is needed bearing in mind more of the so called 'Legacy' carriers are increasing the amount of services on their flight which are chargeable to compete.
I don't think that there will be any radical changes in policy though.

[WHBM]

Seriously, I don't believe MO'L has the ability to change his attitude to a more customer-facing one. But more so, neither do the senior staff who manage the policies and rules from Dublin; he has recruited like-minded individuals for a generation, and got rid of anyone not bought in to his approach. Bonderman (his principal shareholder) may be demanding instant action, but the resources and abilities are not there.

HOWEVER .......

Just supposing we here were invited to suggest the 'top ten' items to improve/change/do away with, what would they be ?

I would start with the "I hate luggage" ethos MO'L has portrayed, including the nonsenses like charging quite substantially for a 15 kg bag, then double for a 20 kg (all to be known when you book way in advance), and then charging a ludicrous amount for each extra kilo individually. A more 'I hate you' attitude it is hard to devise.

[AARON O'DICKYDIDO]

He has convinced me of nothing. I will not fly on Ryan Air again. Once was enough!

[Hotel Tango]

Aaron, you were brave enough trying them just the once!

[GreekIslandLover]

Out of the two main LoCo's I'd prefer Ryanair to EasyJet on the grounds that at least RY have never left our luggage at Gatwick.

However, we dislike the fact that by the time you have added all the charges in, the headline price is not good value for money any longer. We shop around all airlines based on price, and if two are similar we go for the non-LoCo carrier.

I personally don't believe RY are capable of change with the current management team. There are so many things that irritate me with them that they would have to change A LOT for me to choose them over other carriers.

[DaveReidUK]

I suspect that its all tied in with the profit warningOf course it is. While MO'L clearly enoys, even relishes, his job it's equally obvious that he does it with one eye on the bottom line.

If we're about to see changes in the way that Ryanair relates to its customers, then that's being done for the same reason - the effect it's going to have on the aforesaid bottom line.

We shouldn't be surprised, it's just good business.

[crewmeal]

How exactly can FR change? Drop the 0870 number? Stop the tedium of printing your own boarding card? Charging mega bucks for miniscule millimetres of oversized baggage? Start charging reasonable prices for onboard products? Now way will they ever reduce anything that involves costs. Perhaps the only way is be nice to it's customers, but there again look what happened to that poor man whose family was wiped out in Leicester. Did he get any compassion? no way he was charged again for changing his flight.

Please don't tell me that the stable door has been shut after the horse has bolted!

[DaveReidUK]

How exactly can FR change? [Stop] charging mega bucks for miniscule millimetres of oversized baggage?Actually, if you read the linked article, you will see that MO'L made specific mention of that as one thing they will look at, recognising that it "unnecessarily annoys customers" (his words, not mine).

[cockney steve]

perhaps a slight change of tact is needed

that has to be "Freudian slip of the year" :D
from L'aviateur! (intentional or not, it hit the spot)

[crewmeal]

Actually, if you read the linked article, you will see that MO'L made specific mention of that as one thing they will look at, recognising that it "unnecessarily annoys customers" (his words, not mine).

I'll believe it when it happens.

[Sunnyjohn]

(I also posted this on Airlines, Airports and Routes)

It's a bit more complicated that 'just' making Ryanair more user-friendly. Whether MOL said so at the shareholders meeting I don't know - he probably did - but a number of things have come together to reduce Ryanair's profits: there is now Europe-wide competition from High Speed Trains - something he did foresee; fuel prices are going through the roof - and 45 percent of Ryanair's costs go on fuel; their aircraft are ageing - higher maintenance costs; and finally Ryanair's real ticket prices are beginning to approach those of its low cost competitors. Ryanair are still making a respectable profit but shareholders are notoriously fickle about these things and will jump ship if a whiff of a drop in profits is in the air. It'll be some years before we've seen the last of Ryanair though. MOL must be thinking of retirement - he's a wealthy man after all - but it is clear that he likes a challenge, and to about-turn the Ryanair image and say 'sucks boo to you, of course we can become customer-friendly' must tickle him no end. He is, first and foremost, a very shrewd entertainer. Still, he may have had enough. We shall see. Just to be straight, I have no problem with Ryanair and use then regularly. He once said that Ryanair is just a bus serves, and that's what it is - a very efficient and safe one, and I have no problem with that at all. No - I don't work for them and sympathise with the poor work culture, but there is still enough work out there for those who don't like it to walk - as I'm sure many do.

[Metro man]

Which makes better business sense ?

Get someone to fly with you, rip them off and give them a horrible experience, make your money from them once only.

Get someone to fly with you, treat them well and give them a good experience,
make a bit less money because this costs a bit more BUT make that money over and over again as customers return rather than taking their business elsewhere.

[Sunnyjohn]

I'm not taking sides here but our experience of Ryanair is fine. The flight lasts two hours; prior to that there is two hours at the airport. By far the worst part of the experience is the bit at the airport. Any bad experiences on the flight are usually down to the customers, although our experience between here and the UK are to the contrary. We find the cabin crew courteous and efficient, the flight crew informative and, on the one occasion when our flight was delayed due to a diversion for refuelling after a thunderstorm, we were treated politely with regular updates with regard to the situation of the flight. Maybe we just live in the right Spanish city!

[Hotel Tango]

Bang on Metro man.

I also believe that too many businesses are now led by people who focus on short term results (for their bonuses) and don't care a hoot about the long term because they will have moved on by then.

[DaveReidUK]

I also believe that too many businesses are now led by people who focus on short term results (for their bonuses)True, but more importantly the people who are even more focussed on short-term results (and who can, as a last resort, remove the management) are the shareholders.

CEOs, like it or not, have to operate in that environment.

[Hotel Tango]

Very true too. The price of privatisation?

[PAXboy]

As I said in post #3, FR will not be rebuilding the company. One of the great advantages that they have is a constant supply of young pax out on their own for the first time and only interested in price to get to the holiday. In later years, they may become more discerning - but not yet. There are many other categories of pax who will keep them going on their successful regime.

I suggest that the reason their profits have slowed is three fold:


A bad recession with another five years to go.
A natural plateau, in that they have expanded to all the obvious routes and some of the non obvious.
Much of their earlu income from airport susidy is now tailing off.

Unfortunately, markets have become addicted to growth rather than steady progress and they want more. Which is the leading reason beding the recent financial crash (and all the crashes before that and all the ones to come).

As you were, FR continues on it's SOP. :}

[Evanelpus]

Nothing will change. MOL probably wanted some free airtime and this was his way of getting it.

As someone said earlier, the only way change might be possible would be to remove MOL from the equation and we all know that aint gonna happen any time soon.

[rgsaero]

If I either worked for Ryanair, or was a shareholder one of the last things I would want is for MOL to "be removed".

Whatever you say he has built an extremely successful airline, and as someone said above, if all the customers hated the experience it would have fallen over many years ago.

Like it or not, it's profitable, efficient and - for the vast majority of the customers - a satisfactory "purchase"

(For the record - I last flew with them some years ago with my very elderly mother - in a wheelchair - and it all worked seamlessly.)

[Evanelpus]

If I either worked for Ryanair, or was a shareholder one of the last things I would want is for MOL to "be removed".

Yes, I agree in part but the only way the culture will change is if this ever happened.

[PAXboy]

Changing the culture of a company is EXTREMELY difficult. Even with a wholesale change of snr mgmt (which will not happen) how do you change something that has been built into every brick of the company? For better for for worse, FR will be what it is for as long as it exists.

If you want to read about how to change a company, then read Gordon Bethune's book: From Worst to First: Behind the Scenes of Continental's Remarkable Comeback.

BUT, since FR are making good steady money - there is no need for a turn around. Yes, they may change some of their worst own goals but they do not need to change. So they won't.

(Again: I do not work for FR and I do not like FR)

[Capot]

Get this announcement (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/news/article-2424991/Ryanair-boss-OLeary-throws-gauntlet-BA-plan-6-30-flights-US.html) for the latest idiocy from Ryanair!

Surely there cannot be a single person in Europe who hasn't caught on to Ryanair's methods?

Announce a ridiculously low fare, only charge it to one person, and then also add "charges" for increasingly absurd "services" that increase the average yield per passenger to what Ryanair wants and needs it to be, ie rather more than any other airline gets.

I'm now officially out-of-currency on DOCs, but, across the Atlantic, I'm guessing that they need $200 average yield per 1-way passenger to pay the DOCs and essential overheads, and another $200 per 1-way passenger to make the sort of profits that Ryanair likes.

Let's help MoL by suggesting some new charges that a Transatlantic passenger should pay, to get that magic average $400 per 1-way passenger.

To get the ball rolling......these are all per passenger per sector...

Jetstream Supplement - $40.00. (Fund for unexpected costs of adverse Jetstream flows, averaged over a year.)

Toilet Supplement - $25 (Use of toilets cannot be avoided thus incurring cleaning costs.)

Nourishment Supplement - $35.00 (Provision of cheese roll made in Galway in previous 8 weeks, distributed by CC for mandatory consumption every 2 hours to prevent on-board self-starvation by cheapskates.)

US Charges Supplement - $120.00 (Contribution to costs of feeding passenger information to US Authorities.)

Engineering Supplement - (Also on European Routes) $45.00 (Mandatory payment towards costs of line maintenance and issue of CRS.)

There must be more; it's a rich field for imaginative revenue creation.