If the late Tony Ryan ran a recruitment agency, it would probably have been the greatest recruitment agency of all time. The joint founder of Ryanair had incredible matching skills as evidenced by his ability to find key talent. GPA, the vehicle which unfortunately failed though an ill-timed flotation in the early 90′s has disseminated key executives to greatly enhance the airline industry, far and wide, in all corners of the globe.
Leaving aside the key talent assembled at GPA, Mr Ryan’s ability to find personal assistants was second to none. One of his PA’s was none other than Denis O’Brien, who went on to become a mobile telephony and global communications giant, but the killer recruit has to be Michael O’Leary.
Dispatched to America in 1991 to study the South West Airlines low-cost model, the young Michael returned from that journey invigorated by the possibilities of the low-cost model and has never looked back since. His ability to self publicize knows no bounds – he actively courts – a truly awesome self-generating PR machine!
There are so many memorable moments over the last 20 years, from the “Cardinal O’Leary” photos to those personally constructed black and white newspaper advertisements regularly targeted against Government ministers, public service agencies or the competition. So, what is behind Michael’s latest plan?
Ryanair has persistently made it clear that they do not want to handle your baggage – it is fuel expensive, time-wasting, requires additional resources and …is taking up valuable space on the plane. Mr O’Leary wants you to travel with nothing but your 10kg travel standard bag that will fit snugly in the overhead baggage section. It’s about getting you on and off the plane and out of the airport in the quickest possible time. By raising the cost of carrying baggage in the hold to prohibitive levels, the airline is moving inexorably towards baggage free flights – it is, it would seem, only a matter of time before this happens.
Great innovators deliver great ideas – so what’s the plan for all that cargo space as soon as the cargo baggage ban is in place. A quick check on the technical specification of a Boeing 737-800, Ryanair’s plane of choice at the moment, indicates that the cargo space is 44 m3. (44 tons if it were filled with water – a sizeable volume). Could it be a second tier for even cheaper seats in the hold? or perhaps no seats at all ? – standing room only, or perhaps the housing for a solar panel energy generation unit to further reduce the hedged aviation fuel costs – whatever it is, we are guaranteed never a dull moment with Ryanair.