CTJT Travel writing course article by Dareth Evans

A Profile of Michael Kevin O'Leary, CEO of RyanAir

Evil comes in many guises. Mostly, it comes with a smile. A great start, Dareth, well done – really

captivating.

Take the child-catcher in the movie “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.” Although not in the original Ian Fleming book,

it was screenwriter Roald Dahl - himself a master of dubious characters - that created this fiendish

chatarecter for the movie. He rides through the streets with offers of treacle tart, ice cream and lollipops,

all free of course, to trick the children into his trap. They step into his world and... It’s too late. No matter

how many times we watch the movie and shout at the children to try and protect them, his devilish plans

trap these children each and every time.

The Child-Cather (Played by Sir Robert Helpmann) from the movie “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”

Hannibal Lecter trapped it victims with charm, intelligence and etiquette. Introduced to the world in 1981 in

the novel Red Dragon, Thomas Harris created a monster, but a monster we have come

to fear and respect. Hannibal Lecter was the perfect host. A great wit and

conversationalist, he gained the confidence of his victims before striking them down for

his own pure pleasure. We know that he will do whatever it takes to place a smile on this face and in those

deep piercing eyes.

We are both terrified and intrigued at the same time. This is what evil does. It confuses us. It scares us and

yet, we cannot walk away. We need evil to know what is good in the world. We have heaven and hell for

that same reason. Justification.

However, these are both fictional characters. Michael Kevin O'Leary, CEO of Ryanair isn’t. He is real. Some

say he is a twisted genius, a monster we try to escape from, yet we go back to him time and time again. He

is the “Mr. Grey” of the airline world. He beats us, he whips us but we don’t leave. He is a drug that we have

become addicted to. Wonderful descriptive writing, Dareth, well done.

Mr. O’Leary tells us the things he will do to hurt us. He tells us he will allow us to use mobile phones on

some flights, at a cost to us, of course.

He teases us with the £4 “standing seats.” Of course we know that this will never work, but like the child-

catcher, he has lured us into his trap. He tells us that we will have to “pay to pee” and threatens to take

away one of the two toilets – to speed up turnaround times – although even he knows that the masters of

aviation will not allow this. Again we are fooled. Using both doors to deplane and board passengers we

think is for us. It isn’t It is that all important shortening of time on the ground which cost Mr. O’Leary

money.

But it isn’t just us. The crew are forced to lose weight to help save money on fuel. This isn’t the Crazy Horse

in Paris. Air crew are not dancers. Why 189 seats? Because 200 would mean having extra air crew on board

and that would cost Mr. O’Leary money!Cabin crew clean the plane. Avoidance of large hubs and land at

smaller, less congested airports. Use cheap labour for its cabin crew, who also pay for their own training.

Uniformity and the cost savings it brings have seen Ryanair choose a single type of plane, the Boeing 737-

800. A good idea you might think, but morally, there is a different story.

In 2002, Ryanair decided to increase the size of its fleet. Not simply by buying a few new planes, but a total

of 150 to be delivered through until 2008. How could he do this? It is true that business was expanding, but

a purchase of that size was unheard of at that time. The simple fact is that Mr. O’Leary bought the planes at

a time when Boeing in particular was having a hard time selling new or used planes. It was less than a year

after the terrible attacks on the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York we came to call simply

“9/11.”

A single type of plane reduces maintenance costs and as it is one of Boeing’s best sellers, there are plenty of

ground crew qualified to work on this type of plane. Ryanair only use one loading/unloading cargo bay,

saving expensive ground staff costs. Money, money, money. We do save, of sorts. Mr. O’Leary plunders.

And there is the question of luggage. He gives us the option to take or not to take. It’s cheaper if you don’t,

but then again why travel anywhere without luggage? The carry-on is fine, but as I found out, size does

matter.

What he says is acceptable is clearly marked on the web-site. No problem, you would think. You measure

your case at home, weight, all seems fine. However, those gauges he uses at the airport are slightly smaller

than your bag – which you measured and weighed at home... You don’t question it and are forced to pay

extra charges to have your bag slung into the hold. Clever. Vindictive. Cruel.

Flight Cost Comparison Chart

Airline Destination Cost

Ryanair Bari, Italy £131.00 (Hand luggage only)

Ryanair Bari, Italy £165.00 (One bag checked-in)

Alitalia Bari Via Rome (No direct flights) £415.00 (One bag checked-in)

We save overall. It’s true. Sometimes. But add up those bags, the water on board, the reprinting of lost

boarding passes and your trip starts to look like a nightmare.

Mr. O’Leary told business magazine Management Today that “holidays are a complete waste of time.” His

childhood must have been hard. Very hard. Was he forced to work as a chimney sweep? Was he sent down

the mines at an early age? We will never know.

What we do know is that for all of his shenanigans, it is us that will pay, one way or another. And we love it!

Dr. Evil Michael Kevin O'Leary

CTJT Travel writing course article by Dareth Evans