Ryanair CEO calls customer an idiot

[OZGOD]

I guess being the CEO of the most popular budget airline in Europe allows you to call your customers idiots eh.

Ryanair boss labels passenger 'stupid' over boarding pass charge

Oliver Smith
Published: September 6, 2012 - 5:07PM

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Michael O'Leary, the chief executive of European budget carrier Ryanair, has described passengers who forget to print their boarding passes as "idiots".

Last month, Suzy McLeod received the backing of more than half a million Facebook users after the airline charged her €300 ($A370) to print out five boarding passes before a flight from Alicante to Bristol.

Ms McLeod wrote on the social networking site: "I had previously checked in online but because I hadn't printed out the boarding passes, Ryanair charged me €60 ($A74) per person! Meaning I had to pay €300 for them to print out a piece of paper! Please 'like' if you think that's unfair." More than 500,000 people lent their support.

But the Ryanair boss branded her "stupid" for falling foul of the airline's boarding card reissue rules.

"We think Mrs McLeod should pay 60 euros for being so stupid," he said. "She wasn't able to print her boarding card because, as you know, there are no internet cafes in Alicante, no hotels where they could print them out for you, and you couldn't get to a fax machine so some friend at home can print them and fax them to you.

"She wrote to me last week asking for compensation and a gesture of goodwill. To which we have replied, politely but firmly, thank you Mrs McLeod but it was your ****-up."

He claimed that 99.98 per cent of Ryanair passengers did print their boarding passes in advance: "To those who don't, we say quite politely: 'B***** off'".

Although Ms McLeod, 35, from Newbury, printed boarding passes out for herself, her two children, and her parents, on the outgoing flight from Bristol to Alicante, she says she was unable to print out the boarding passes for her return flight due to the length of her holiday. Ryanair only permits passes to be printed out two weeks in advance of departure, but her trip lasted 15 days.

Had Ms McLeod forgotten to print her own boarding passes on the flight from Bristol to Alicante, she would have faced an even greater bill of £300 ($A467). This is because Ryanair uses an exchange rate of £1=€1 when calculating its numerous fees – a policy which, due to the weak euro, means British passengers are charged more.

The no-frills airline has been criticised in the past for imposing hefty charges on its passengers. In addition to the £60/€60 fee for reissuing boarding passes, passengers are charged a £6/€6 per person per flight "admin fee" and a £6/€6 "web check-in fee". Ryanair also recently introduced an "EU261 levy" to offset the cost of paying compensation for flight delays and cancellations, and since January it has also charged an "ETS levy" to cover the cost of the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme, under which airlines are fined for exceeding carbon emissions limits.

Ryanair passengers wishing to check in a single bag, meanwhile, are charged between £15/€15 and £40/€40 per person per flight, depending on the time of year, their destination, and the weight of their luggage. Carriage of sports or musical equipment costs £50/€50.

- The Telegraph, London

This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel...over-boarding-pass-charge-20120906-25gg1.html

So was Suzy McLeod an idiot for not printing out her boarding pass and hence deserve to be gouged at the airport? Or is Ryanair truly being unfair in throwing customer service out the window in order to give ALL passengers as low a price as possible, as long as they follow their strict rules?

 

[Geordie Ahmed]

Ryanair are a horrid airline and Michael Leary is a scumbag who should play in traffic

I mean how on earth can you justify charging that much for what is a piece of paper? It's a disgrace and frankly the government/EU should make it illegal to charge that much for a boarding pass. I think even charging a fiver would be taking the mick BUT £60? Absurd

 

[Usman]

Ryan Air just gets better and better. A while back, they actually proposed to the airline industry that airlines should do away with a co-pilot. You don't need two pilots they say, the aircraft works with one. What next, they take off an engine and say, you don't need that extra engine, the aircraft works with just the one. Why not remove pilots altogether, get the passenger's to have a go in the cockpit!

 

[cricketjoshila]

who travels this airline with such horrid fees?TBH i hv never travelled internatinally on a budget airline.its normally full service for me.

 

[James]

Worst airline ever, that is a commonly held opinion, but even then this story is pretty disgusting.

 

[OZGOD]

Yes, RyanAir CEO Michael O'Leary is not your typical sensitive new age bloke eh. He's actually pretty brutal with customers and treats them like dirt for the most part, because he thinks as long as they continue to be cheap people will continue to use the service no matter how they are treated. In this economy most of us can't afford to be pampered in business or first class all the time.

RyanAir CEO Michael O'Leary

It brings about an interesting question though. How much will we as customers endure for a cheap deal/affordability? Ryanair has often been caught up in bad publicity for all these cost cutting measures, some of which border on the ridiculous. Eg:

- save costs by only having one pilot (as Usman said)
- generate revenue from "optional extras", such as: a) charging to go to the toilet (not yet implemented but planned); b) charging for checked luggage (now every US domestic airline is doing it); c) charging to print boarding passes (60 euro per pass); d) charging 100 euro to check bags in at airport instead of fast bag drop beforehand; e) charging for food (now every US domestic airline is doing it)
- generate revenue by proposing that passengers fly "standing up" but restrained by seat belts, to increase space
- increased prices by 1 pound because it was forced by a European court to provide wheelchairs for disabled passengers. RyanAir argued that airports should bear the cost instead
- increased prices by 2 pounds because it was forced by civil aviation authorities to provide meals and accommodation for passengers stranded where it was RyanAir's fault

Basically RyanAir operates on a very simple business model - cheap cheap cheap. They pick small airports well outside major cities to keep landing fees low and offer very low fares. But in this case you get what you pay for, and you are treated like you are a cheapskate - rudely and adversarially. They nickel and dime you for every little thing and pass every cost increase to the customer. Their argument is they have to do this to keep prices low, and that customers don't care how they are treated as long as they get to fly cheap. If you don't want to be charged a boarding pass fee, then print your boarding pass beforehand. If you don't want to pay for food, then don't eat. If you don't want to pay the checked bag fee, then don't check bags in. Etc.

Thoughts on this? Is this business model sustainable in the long term? Or are they building a scenario where people will only go to them as long as they are a) cheap and b) deliver their promise ie not have constantly delayed flights etc. Because one thing that seems to be missing here is customer loyalty.

 

[OZGOD]

Ryanair are a horrid airline and Michael Leary is a scumbag who should play in traffic

I mean how on earth can you justify charging that much for what is a piece of paper? It's a disgrace and frankly the government/EU should make it illegal to charge that much for a boarding pass. I think even charging a fiver would be taking the mick BUT £60? Absurd

Did you know that Mick O'Leary bought a taxi plate for his Mercedes Benz so he could use Dublin's bus lanes while driving around the city? He bought the plate, and equipped his car with a meter so he could avoid traffic. Of course, he doesn't take passengers.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2005/jun/24/theairlineindustry.travelnews

 

[Robert]

You get what you pay for. If you choose a dirt cheap airline, beware.

 

[saeedhk]

Thats crazy.

 

[Poison]

) Reading that article about the taxi plate makes me want to make friends with this guy

 

[Geordie Ahmed]

) Reading that article about the taxi plate makes me want to make friends with this guy

Yes BUT you do know he would become your friend and then charge you an extortionate amount for it?

 

[Mohsin]

People shouldn't be traveling with Ryanair anyway...

...Fly Lo, now thats a real airline!

[UTUBE]Idd32nyf1pc[/UTUBE]

[UTUBE]j8H39sPu_wA[/UTUBE]

 

[OZGOD]

Check out this link where, in an interview, Michael O'Leary says that while economy class passengers on long haul Ryanair flights will be offered nothing, business class passengers will be offered blowjobs.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b5e_1214473286

 

[OZGOD]

More from Mick O'Leary. Lol.

Ryanair suing top pilot after he shows them up on TV show
By Eve Stepney · On August 17, 2013
And six of Michael O’Leary’s top mad soundbites.


Everyone’s least favourite airline have done it again. Ryanair have managed to **** off the world at large by firing one of their pilots after he was interviewed for an episode of Dispatches on the airline’s safety measures. The programme, which aired on Monday, claimed that an RPG survey revealed more than 1,000 pilots had serious concerns about the airline’s approach to their safety concerns.

MichaelolearyExplaining the move to fire senior pilot Captain John Goss, Ryanair said on Thursday that it, “Will not allow an… employee to defame our safety on national television just three weeks after he confirmed in writing to Ryanair that he had no concerns with safety”. This actually seems fairly restrained from the airline whose boss Michael O’Leary (left) says things like, “Nobody wants to sit beside a really fat ******* on board. We have been frankly astonished at the number of customers who don’t only want to tax fat people but torture them.” Charming.

It’s pretty clear that the miserly aero-demons are definitely going to airline hell once their number is called – with minimum leg room on the flight down. In this spirit, we’ve decided to make a list of O’Leary’s best evil soundbites – say what you like about him, but the man is a PR wizard. Give ‘em hell, Mike!

1. “You’re not getting a refund so **** off. We don’t want to hear your sob stories. What part of ‘no refund’ don’t you understand?”

The customer is always right, unless you’re a Ryanair customer, in which case you’re nearly always wrong. In fact…

2. “People say the customer is always right, but you know what – they’re not. Sometimes they are wrong and they need to be told so.”

That’ll learn ‘em. Who needs customers anyway?

3. (On environmentalists) “We want to annoy the ******** whenever we can. The best thing you can do with environmentalists is shoot them.”

Seems fair enough – all that saving the world from imminent destruction stuff is pretty tedious. Snore!

4. “Anyone who thinks Ryanair flights are some sort of bastion of sanctity where you can contemplate your navel is wrong. We already bombard you with as many in-flight announcements and trolleys as we can. Anyone who looks like they’re sleeping, we wake them up to sell them things.”

Ryanair have been called a great many things during their reign as cheapskate airspace overlords du jour, but we’re pretty sure that a “bastion of sanctity” is not one of them. Unless by bastion, he means cesspit, and by sanctity, he means strangers farts and stifled rage. In which case, Ryanair are totally a bastion of sanctity.

5. “I don’t give a **** if no-one likes me. I am not a cloud bunny, I am not an aerosexual. I don’t like aeroplanes. I never wanted to be a pilot like those other platoons of goons who populate the airline industry.”

Nice one gobby. Way to insult the people who quite literally drive your industry. Again. Also, an aerosexual cloud bunny sounds like a mile-high Playboy Mansion designed by Richard Branson. Come on Mike, you’re better than that. (Jokes! You’re totally not better than that).

6. “Do we carry rich people on our flights? Yes, I flew on one this morning and I’m very rich.”

Presumably said whilst sitting astride a yellow and blue throne of resentment, LOLing uncontrollably, counting stacks and murdering kittens.

http://planetivy.com/uknews/uknews-uknews/71789/ryanair-are-definitely-evil/

 

[Gabbar Singh]

Their prices are dirt cheap for a reason. If you want a no frills airline which gets you from A to B in time then use Ryanair.

And their t&cs are there for all to see in black and white BEFORE you even book the ticket. So if someone forgets to print their boarding pass what do they expect will happen when they get to the airport?

In fact the reason their tickets are so cheap is because they rely on people being lazy or too stupid and thus paying their rip off additional charges at the airport. These people are essentially subsidising ticket prices.

In the case of the lady in the OP, all she had to do was visit an internet cafe whilst on holiday and could have printed her boarding passes in 2 minutes.

O'Leary is a nasty man and a publicity whore and I'd never want to socialise with such a person but people have a choice whether to use his business or not and I still would. Simply because it's cheaper than the competition.

 

[saeedhk]

This airline is a joke.I just did a bit of research on it and it should be the worst airline to travel.The boss of this airline is such a clown.

 

[endymion248]

Ryanair is in the right here and I, for one, am thankful that they charge 80£ to people who forget their boarding passes or 10£ to eat on board. It's people who fall for these ''hidden'' fees that allow the rest of us to fly for so cheap. If you want a no nonsense travel subsidized by the stupidty of other people, Ryan air is the way to go. Why the hell would I want to eat on board or even be comfortable for a two hour travel? People, especially rich kids, spend hours on end sitting on the ground in the street because it's hype so I can do without comfort on a short plane trip.

 

[Gilly]

Ryanair can charge cheaper fares because you book online and print your own tickets. If people want to pay cheaper prices then turn up without their tickets expecting Ryanair to print them they should be expecting to pay for it.

The high cost is not to make money but to discourage people from forgetting to print their tickets, if it was cheap then everyone would be forgetting to print their tickets, 60 pound is a good reminder to print your ticket.

 

[endymion248]

They still make a lot of money from all the hidden charges so I guess it's one stone, two birds.

 

[nish_mate]

Ryanair is in the right here and I, for one, am thankful that they charge 80£ to people who forget their boarding passes or 10£ to eat on board. It's people who fall for these ''hidden'' fees that allow the rest of us to fly for so cheap. If you want a no nonsense travel subsidized by the stupidty of other people, Ryan air is the way to go. Why the hell would I want to eat on board or even be comfortable for a two hour travel? People, especially rich kids, spend hours on end sitting on the ground in the street because it's hype so I can do without comfort on a short plane trip.

Yawn i can afford BA/Lufty/KLM's of this world and will fly it on short haul- fly out of a main airport and land at a main airport. Rather pay a bit extra and be treated normally.

On long haul anyways full service airlines are the way to go- would love to see folks flying Ryan Air on a long haul flight- be a riot by the time the flight lands!

 

[Canistani Hero]

LOL the CEO is the idiot

 

[Varun]

Ryanair thrives on outrage and publicity - they don't need to spend any cash on advertising thus.

Don't feed the troll, if you like.

 

[Gabbar Singh]

LOL the CEO is the idiot

He may be crass and classless but he's no idiot. In 20 years he's transformed an almost bankrupt airline which had 2 planes into europes busiest airline which makes hundreds of millions a year. The man is very very clever.

 

[Abdullah719]

Terrorists are ‘generally Muslims’, claims Ryanair CEO

LONDON: Muslim men should be profiled at airports as terrorists will “generally be of a Muslim persuasion”, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said in an interview published on Saturday, sparking accusations of racism.

“Who are the bombers?” the budget airline’s controversial chief executive said while discussing airport security in the interview with the Times newspaper.

“They are going to be single males travelling on their own... If you are travelling with a family of kids, on you go; the chances you are going to blow them all up is zero.” “You can’t say stuff, because it’s racism, but it will generally be males of a Muslim persuasion. Thirty years ago it was the Irish.”

A spokesman from the Muslim council of Britain accused O’Leary of “Islamophobia”.

O’Leary was “encouraging racism”, Labour MP Khalid Mahmood told the newspaper.

“In Germany this week a white person killed eight people. Should we profile white people to see if they’re being fascists?”

The Ryanair CEO is known for his controversial views and has floated proposals to charge fliers to use the toilet during Ryanair flights and a “fat tax” on obese passengers.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1536104/terrorists-are-generally-muslims-claims-ryanair-ceo

 

[KingKhanWC]

Poor racist comments from this clown CEO.

Its a shame I will be flying out with Ryanair this summer. But wont any longer, its' a rubbish airline but convenient to some locations.

 

[Uzi]

Ryanair is one airline I avoid like the plague. Gutter airline.

 

[FearlessRoar]

Ryanair has reported a surge in fares - as a record number of passengers flew with the airline over the summer.

Compared to a year ago, the average fare rose by 24% to €58 (£50.27), Ryanair reported in its results for the first half of the 2023/24 financial year.

Michael O'Leary, the low-cost airline's chief executive, said earlier this year fares were unlikely to increase more than 20%, with a rise of between 10% and 15% likely.

Ryanair recorded a total revenue of €8.58bn (£7.43bn) in the six months to the end of September.

At the same time, passenger numbers reached more than 105 million across the half year due to a "strong" Easter and record summer demand.

In the next 10 years, Ryanair - Europe's largest airline by passenger numbers - aims to grow passenger numbers to 300 million a year.

Before then, latest company forecasts are for record profits by the end of this financial year in March.

Ryanair on Monday said it expects an after-tax profit between €1.85bn (£1.6bn) and €2.05bn (£1.77bn), far above the previous record of €1.45bn (£1.25bn) in 2018.

Profits after tax are already 59% up on the same period a year ago, at €2.18bn (£1.88bn) for the six months up to September.

As a result, for the first time ever Ryanair is paying dividends to its shareholders. Investors are in line to receive €0.35 (£0.30) per share, part of an overall pay out of €400m (£346.6m) to be issued in February and September next year.

Despite the rude financial health of the Irish-based airline, concern was expressed at the delivery of key aircraft and broader economic conditions.

Source: Sky News

 

[FearlessRoar]

Ryanair says it will resume flights to and from Israel on February 1, citing EASA guidance and the resumption of flights by other European carriers.

Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers, says that initially it will operate a reduced schedule with routes to and from Karlsruhe/Baden Baden, Marseilles, Memmingen, Milan and Vienna.

The Irish low-cost carrier on Oct. 9 canceled all flights to and from Israel in the wake of the October 7 Hamas assault on Israel.

Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian and Aegean have already resumed fights to Tel Aviv. Air France said it plans to restart its route from Paris on January 24.

Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian and Aegean have already resumed fights to Tel Aviv. Air France said it plans to restart its route from Paris on January 24.

Times of Israel

Ryanair says it will resume some flights to Tel Aviv on February 1

* * *

www.timesofisrael.com

 

[FearlessRoar]

Ryanair warns shareholders of weaker summer fares as profits slip​

Ryanair has reported weaker profits than expected for its first financial quarter, blaming a need to "stimulate" flight sales amid heightened consumer caution.

Europe's largest carrier by passenger numbers said it had engaged in more discounting than expected in the three months to the end of June, with the average fare 15% down, and it saw no end in sight to the need for markdowns.

Profit after tax came in 46% lower at €360m (£303m).

Market analysts had expected a figure above €530m.

The no-frills carrier reported revenue per passenger was 10% down as a whole, with so-called ancillary revenue - that is sales covering additions such as hold luggage - flat.

Operating costs also dragged.

Ryanair reported an 11% rise as higher wages offset lower fuel bills.

It warned shareholders that fares over the key summer holiday months would be significantly down as a result of the weaker than anticipated consumer backdrop.

He told shareholders: "While Q2 demand is strong, pricing remains softer than we expected, and we now expect Q2 fares to be materially lower than last summer [previously expected to be flat to modestly up]".

He said it was too early to forecast profit for the full financial year, which ends on 31 March 2025.

Ryanair warns shareholders of weaker summer fares as profits slip

Ryanair has reported weaker profits than expected for its first financial quarter, blaming a need to "stimulate" flight sales amid heightened consumer caution.

news.sky.com