An Irish friend of mine told me many years ago to think twice before dismissing Michael O'Leary, the face and chief executive of Europe's largest low-cost carrier, Ryanair. At the time, O'Leary was relatively unknown outside of Ireland. And while I took thatadvice, I have over the years, poked him for his headline-grabbing anticsand the ridiculous, combative and sometimes even vulgar comments he is wont to make.
Flight attendants should learn how to land airplanes soRyanair could eliminate the second pilot was one outrageous idea he championed.Standing seats should be installed on airplanes in order to make room for morefare-paying passengers was another. His proposal to eliminate the potty on board or charge for its use made O'Leary air travel's bad-boy as the idea ricocheted around the globe.
O'Leary confessed to me those were"Wheeze" statements, (note to readers, wheeze is a British expression for a "clever or amusing scheme or trick uttered to generate publicity" according to audioenglish.org) And while O'Leary may neverhave considered any of those ideasliterally, at a news conference with Boeing held in New York this morning, theformer accountant turned airline boss made it clear; all he's really wanted forChristmas was to get more passengers on his airplanes so he can make more money.
"I feel like a child whose woken on Christmas morning to find Santa has given him exactly what he asked for," O'Leary said in announcing with Boeing's Ray Conner, the airline's purchase of 200 Boeing 737 Max-200s.
Lean, unlined, clean-shaven and with no white hair to speak of, Conner fits no version of Santa Claus I'm familiar with but indeed, to makeO'Leary happy, the president of Boeing Commercial Airplanes presided over a redesign of the still-under-developmentBoeing 737 Max. Add a mid fuselage door, remove one forward and one aft galley and voila, a 197 passenger short-to medium haul airliner.
"If you build theextra seats, we'll pay extra for the seats," O'Leary said he told the plane maker. And to make them feel extra special he added, "It's the first time inthe history of Ryanair that we paid a higher price for a new aircraft."
"It's entirely justified," O'Leary explained later. "The seven extra seats are worth about a million dollars a year to me," per plane.
Boeing executives also seem to be feeling a little bit likeChristmas arrived early. Of the plane designed for O'Leary, Conner told me, "All the low cost carriers there are around the world, every one is a potential candidate," for the dash200.
"It is 20 percent more operating costadvantage and you can take that advantage against any airline flying somethingwith less seats in it."
The news conference, held in New York City's Palace Hotel onMadison Avenue, was a posh contrast to the no-frills business model on which O'Learyand Boeing are banking. Was itcoincidence then that just today Jay Sorensen's IdeaWorks CarTrawler Yearbook of Ancillary Revenue reported that the amount of money each airline passenger spends over and above theticket price rose to $16 in 2013? Ryanair ranks 5th among the top ten airlines for ancillary revenue generation, earning $1,689,457,120 last year according to the report.
Perhaps he's inspired by those eye-popping numbers. Perhapshe's just feeling generous in light of receiving the gift he's always wanted, or because he dodged the coal in his stocking that is due to mischievous, bad boys. Butbefore he cleared out of the Palace to meet with investors, O'Leary madea promise to his customers.
"You can assume bathrooms remain on the aircraft and Iguarantee free access to all those bathrooms," he said, adding, the new Ryanair has "run out of road" on wheeze of threatening passengers they cannot wizz on Ryanairflights. But when I asked if, given his new built-just-for-him airplane, he was ready to give up on all the gimmicks, his denial was clear.
"We just need a new PRwheeze," he said.
No, now would not be the time to dismiss Michael O'Leary.