O’LEARY’S AN AIR DISASTER
I don’t think many of us were under any illusions about what Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary thought about his customers. For years he’s treated us as cattle who’ll put up with any kind of service so long as it’s cheap and more or less punctual. But the chaos and anxiety caused by this week’s flight cancellations is even beyond Mr O’Leary’s pale. Not to mention the appalling communication with customers about what’s been going on. And what kind of poor management allowed such a monumental rota cock-up in the first place? When Ryanair first appeared on the airline scene the idea of a budget service was novel and attractive. But now everyone’s offering budget products – from supermarkets to tour operators – but they’re doing it with good quality service too. Ryanair’s crash to earth is no accident. This was the inevitable disaster that comes when a company treats its customers with contempt.