Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has always been an interesting character to me…

I’ve never been sure what to make of him.

Is he that rude?

Does he not care about his customers?

Are his public outbursts for real or just for publicity?

So, when I came across a biography not authorised by O’Leary, written by a reputable journalist (Matt Cooper) who’s written several acclaimed books on Irish public life and significant public figures, I figured it would give me more a truthful insight to what O’Leary is about.

You won’t be disappointed!

Cooper (in my opinion) has done his research and produced a book that depicts O’Leary as an extremely astute businessperson, who can read his market and pivot quickly.

Interestingly, O’Leary’s public outbursts (like when he threatened to put pound coin slots on toilet doors and to give the Ryanair logo a boob job) were in the most, manufactured to gain free publicity.

And it worked back in the day. TV and newspapers couldn’t wait to cover and print what hair brain scheme O’Leary had dreamt up this time.

But the joke was on the media, as it was all part of O’Leary’s plan to get masses of free publicity.

Initially he didn’t care for customers. His strategy was to stack them high and sell them cheap, then sting the customer for extras, including any minor infringement of their terms. Such as not printing boarding passes or having a slightly big or heavy suitcase.

Or as in our case, in 2004 our son turned 2 on the day we returned from a 2-week holiday in France, and they wouldn’t let us board until we paid a £200 fee for a full paying passenger, even though Samuel still sat on his mother’s knee for take-off and landing.

Because of their cheap prices O’Leary knew the public would put up with their lack of care.

Although O’Leary was astute enough to realise when the market was changing, at which time he changed Ryanair’s strategy to care more, getting rid of the underhand money-making tactics.

Back in 2004 I swore never to fly Ryanair again. But their change in strategy changed my mind too.

O’Leary is a marmite character. You either love him or hate him. Either way, you’ve got to applaud what he’s achieved in the budget airline space. He was and still is a pioneer of the industry.

‘Michael O’Leary’ is a terrific book and gets 👍 with ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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…thank you & see you next week.