Posted on 04/26/2005 3:19:34 PM PDT by Murtyo
There's method in O'Leary madness, says professor
WHEN Michael O’Leary, the chief executive of Ryanair, dressed up as a cardinal last week to announce the launch of the airline’s new route from Dublin to Rome and declared “Habemus lowest fares — my children”, he undoubtedly offended a few Catholics. He might even have convinced a few others that he was nuts which, as it turns out, may not necessarily be a bad thing.
A new book by the American psychologist John D Gartner called The Hypomanic Edge — The Link Between (A Little) Craziness and (A Lot Of) Success is proving surprisingly popular among business readers keen to find out what makes their business stars tick.
The entrepreneurial traits identified by the assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore — among them energy, ideas, restlessness, grand ambitions, euphoria, risk-taking, impulsiveness, fast-talking, wittiness and irritation at obstacles — have been identified in figures as diverse as the megalomaniacal explorer Christopher Columbus and the driven Hollywood producer David O Selznick.
So, is the boss of Europe’s most profitable airline nuts? “Absolutely not,” said O’Leary. “I’m a genius, but I’m just too humble to say so.”
On the other hand, O’Leary does admit that you have to be “certifiably insane” to work in the airline industry, adding that anyone who is prepared to take the helm at Aer Lingus “needs to have their head examined”.
Previous publicity stunts have seen the Ryanair boss dress up as St Patrick, arrive at Stansted airport, the airline’s British hub, in a tank and, in the company’s 2003 annual report, be photographed as “Michelle”, a French chambermaid.
O’Leary has also distinguished himself by raising the art of lobbying to new levels. Instead of negotiating airline-related matters with state officials in private, O’Leary prefers to do his business in the full glare of the public spotlight, taking out full-page advertisements in newspapers to to promote his latest particular cause.
His campaign for a second terminal at Dublin airport has yet to bear fruit, however. “A hundred and something 80-year-olds were able to get together and elect a new pope in 24 hours but Bertie has been dithering about a new terminal for the past three years,” he said. That kind of delay could drive anybody crazy.
For those that don't know, Ryanair is the SWA of Europe - and they're doing to the Euro state airlines what SWA has done to the big domestic carriers in the US. And thanks to the EU accords, there's nothing they can legally do about it.
You have to admit - that is a little funny.
Yup, it is funny. Want to bet Benedict XVI got a good laugh out of it? I bet he did. :)
bump
IT'S FUNNY. this guy is interesting - it's interesting to see what he's gets up to cause he's original.
I'm Catholic, and not offended. Everyone was enjoying saying "Habemus Papam" last week. He got to use at least the Habemus part in a big way. I think it is pretty funny, and creative...
My son, who travels by air quite a bit, says Aer Lingus was the absolutely worst airline he's been on.
My accountant, bless his heart, specializes in the airline industry.
He told me rumor is that Ryanair will soon be offering flights from Boston to Dublin.
Time will tell if he's a prophet or a chump. I'll go with the former as he's performed miracles with my taxes year after year.
If it does come true, passengers will need to take out deep vein thrombosis insurance.
I'm a huge fan of Ryanair compared to the awful state run alternatives, although I do have a problem with their customer relations, sometimes they have a bit of a 'sure haven't we given ye cheap fares, why don't yeez all feck up and stop bothering us' attitude. There's no reason why good customer relations and cheap fares can't go together.
I remember working for my brother's business, it was after 9/11 when Ryanair reacted to the slump in airtravel by handing out a million free tickets. Our own, unrelated, business was having a bit of a slowdown and I suggested closing down some operations, my brother replied 'no let's slash some prices, have a big sale,' he smiled at me and said 'always go for the Ryanair option before automatically opting for the British Airways option'. Brilliant, it worked too.
I've used Aer Lingus a fair bit, mainly on their transatlantic routes, and I've never had any problems.
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