Michael O'Leary is a legend.

thomond2006

http://news.bbc.co.uk/panorama/hi/front_page/newsid_8298000/8298750.stm

This is the full version of the Michael O'Leary interview after the Ryanair AGM in Dublin. Parts of this were featured on the "Why Hate Ryanair?" episode of Panorama on BBC1 last Monday.

O'Leary would only agree to an unedited interview, which the BBC refused. Subsequently. the Ryanair boss turns this into another ingenious PR exercise. Oh, and he's a fan of Panorama too!

On the show, the BBC reporter remarked that he had been a guest on the Michael O'Leary show.

This interview proves that O'Leary is a complete legend.

Somebody pick the BBC lad up off the floor!

brummytom

"That's why 67 million people fly with us.. far more than watch Panorama".

He actually comes across quite decent, it's fair enough asking for it to be unedited - we know what the BBC's like with editing

SlickRic

if by legend, you actually mean tosser.

mathie

You spelt 'bell' wrong.
It's not l-e-g.

Danbo!

SlickRic wrote: »

if by legend, you actually mean tosser.

I've heard this from a lot of people. So, why is he a tosser?

brandon_flowers

SlickRic wrote: »

if by legend, you actually mean tosser.

Substantial argument you make there!

FunkZ

Never heard of Panorama!

WindSock

brummytom wrote: »

"That's why 67 million people fly with us.. far more than watch Panorama".

He actually comes across quite decent, it's fair enough asking for it to be unedited - we know what the BBC's like with editing

I liked the bit where he harrassess the reporter to touch his sweet sweet swe swe sweeet can.

dylano_k

Deja Vu makes my head spin

Mark200

thomond2006 wrote: »

http://news.bbc.co.uk/panorama/hi/front_page/newsid_8298000/8298750.stm

This is the full version of the Michael O'Leary interview after the Ryanair AGM in Dublin. Parts of this were featured on the "Why Hate Ryanair?" episode of Panorama on BBC1 last Monday.

O'Leary would only agree to an unedited interview, which the BBC refused. Subsequently. the Ryanair boss turns this into another ingenious PR exercise. Oh, and he's a fan of Panorama too!

On the show, the BBC reporter remarked that he had been a guest on the Michael O'Leary show.

This interview proves that O'Leary is a complete legend.

Not to mention he has 4 links on the Ryanair homepage about the panorama program, including one about a seat sale!

http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/

He's loving the attention, and the man is genius and using it. I love him

Zebra3

Stee wrote: »

I've heard this from a lot of people. So, why is he a tosser?

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/gene-kerrigan/its-time-to-give-lisbon-lies-the-red-card-1873175.html

admiralofthefleet

he's got a neck like a jockeys bollix

bonzos

If we could get him to run this country for a year we wouldnt have the situation the like of rody malloy ,patrick neary and the top guys in the banks get bonuses for making a balls out of their jobs.

ejmaztec

Give Michael O'Leary enough rope and he'll hang the person who gave it to him.:pac:

jimmyendless

O'Leary seems to think that the favourite and cheapest are the same thing.
People go with Ryanair cause of the price from A to B and that the flights run on time(I think). Not for the service and the likeability of them.

If I could afford to, I would avoid them.

Zebra3

Any (ex-)Ryanair employees like to share any stories with us?

gdael

Only he could manage to get a Ryanair add on the BBC of all places.

stovelid

MOL and Ryanair are like the FF of business. As long as he's putting a few extra quid in your pocket, you don't care about the work culture or business practices...fast forward a few years though...

admiralofthefleet wrote: »

he's got a neck like a jockeys bollix

Why would his neck be any different to the rest of him?

Mark200

Zebra3 wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/gene-kerrigan/its-time-to-give-lisbon-lies-the-red-card-1873175.html

After just skimming through that article, it's a load of crap.

It assumes that because the EU originally blocked his Aer Lingus takeover bid that the Lisbon campaign is all about changing that.

Secondly, on the question of:

'''It seems that only in the European Union, Ireland and Zimbabwe are you forced to vote twice," O'Leary said. ''The vote should be respected. It is the only democratic thing to do," he said.'

A newspaper (I believe the same one that wrote that article) had an interview with O'Leary and asked what has changed... he said that plenty has changed since the last vote such as the country almost going bankrupt, and that is reason enough that have another vote. The country was not in that state when he made that comment about democracy. It'd be a different story for him, and for a lot of people, if a re-run of the treaty was done in the exact same political environment as the first time.

The 'journalist' also tries to close in on his point with the quote from O'Leary that "Everything we do is in the interests of Ryanair.". That does not at all imply anything to do with the Aer Lingus takeover. It just implies that a Yes vote will favour Ryanair who are a huge international business that operate in Ireland, just like Intel who also supported a Yes vote.

Tefral

jimmyendless wrote: »

O'Leary seems to think that the favourite and cheapest are the same thing.
People go with Ryanair cause of the price from A to B and that the flights run on time(I think). Not for the service and the likeability of them.

If I could afford to, I would avoid them.

This is something i dont understand.

If you want to go from A to B, does it matter how you get there? i mean for 2-3 hours (average journey i would imagine) Ryanair, fly you there, the flights are clean, the toilets are clean, the staff do their job, you print your ticket off the net and can walk straight into the airport and board the plane.

Granted if you mess any of the easiness of it all up, you pay, but sure at the end of the day its the customers fault for booking the wrong flight, forgetting to check in baggage, having over wieght baggage, these are all things we could actually avoid.

I cant say i have had any problems with them for the 30 or so flights ive had with them over the years.

homerjay2005

if we had him running the country, we would not be in the Sh*t.

one of the smartest men on the block, most companies are run by idiots, he is such a great business man. any man that can make a company in the travel industry make money, deserves some credit.

if he took over aer lingus, he would make them into a decent company.

Paddycrumlinman

I seen the footage and I have to say he handled it very well and I was slightly impressed.

As for legend status, not at all. A very good Business man but defo not a legend.

Nice to see him stick it to the BBC and Panorama.

General Zod

homerjay2005 wrote: »

if we had him running the country, we would not be in the Sh*t.

one of the smartest men on the block, most companies are run by idiots, he is such a great business man. any man that can make a company in the travel industry make money, deserves some credit.

if he took over aer lingus, he would make them into a decent company.

Hi Michael!

Whiskey Devil

bonzos wrote: »

If we could get him to run this country for a year we wouldnt have the situation the like of rody malloy ,patrick neary and the top guys in the banks get bonuses for making a balls out of their jobs.

cronin_j wrote: »

This is something i dont understand.

If you want to go from A to B, does it matter how you get there? i mean for 2-3 hours (average journey i would imagine) Ryanair, fly you there, the flights are clean, the toilets are clean, the staff do their job, you print your ticket off the net and can walk straight into the airport and board the plane.

Granted if you mess any of the easiness of it all up, you pay, but sure at the end of the day its the customers fault for booking the wrong flight, forgetting to check in baggage, having over wieght baggage, these are all things we could actually avoid.

I cant say i have had any problems with them for the 30 or so flights ive had with them over the years.

Also never had a problem flying with Ryanair. They are still the most successful airline in the world, while their competitors lose money hand over fist. You have to be careful when flying with them, but if it wasn't for Ryanair flying would never ever have been so cheap or competitive.

The Black Oil

If he was running the country the roads would be made of sand and children would be educated in mud huts. Not that the current shower have done much better, mind.

niceirishfella

The Black Oil wrote: »

If he was running the country the roads would be made of sand and children would be educated in mud huts.

like WTF kind of post is this?

Zebra3

Mark200 wrote: »

After just skimming through that article, it's a load of crap.

It's probably a load of crap because you just skimmed through it.

Maybe you could try reading it through to the end. :rolleyes:

General Zod

Michael O'Leary only thinks of how Ryanair can make money.

Governments are not ment to be run as for-profit enterprises.

RoadKillTs

This is something i dont understand.

If you want to go from A to B, does it matter how you get there? i mean for 2-3 hours (average journey i would imagine) Ryanair, fly you there, the flights are clean, the toilets are clean, the staff do their job, you print your ticket off the net and can walk straight into the airport and board the plane.

Granted if you mess any of the easiness of it all up, you pay, but sure at the end of the day its the customers fault for booking the wrong flight, forgetting to check in baggage, having over wieght baggage, these are all things we could actually avoid.

I cant say i have had any problems with them for the 30 or so flights ive had with them over the years.

Exactly. I fly Ryanair all the time, I could if i wanted fly Aerlingus but I don't want to. Whats the point?
It's the same thing anyways.
Now if I was flying to Oz then that would be a different story but if your just going over to the UK or somewhere in Europe then it makes no odds.

niceirishfella

General Zod wrote: »

Governments are not ment to be run as for-profit enterprises.

WRONG! They should be.

Whiskey Devil

Michael O' Leary also thinks of how Ryanair can save money.

General Zod

niceirishfella wrote: »

WRONG! They should be.

So the government should scrap all non income generating initiatives?

niceirishfella

Now, you're trying to steer away fromwhat you originally posted, you said
"Governments are not ment to be run as for-profit enterprises".

I think all right minded people will agree its better for a country to be run like a profitable business and therefore it can provide the services/needs to its people. Rather than be in debt all the time and have shyte services?!

General Zod

niceirishfella wrote: »

I think all right minded people will agree

This phrase usually makes me think everything that follows is going to be nonsense.

Rondolfus

SlickRic wrote: »

if by legend, you actually mean tosser.

If by tosser you actually mean a successful Irish person.

A lot of Irish people just can't stomach other Irish peoples success. There is a reason why we call it the GREEN eyed monster!

niceirishfella

General Zod wrote: »

This phrase usually makes me think everything that follows is going to be nonsense.

.......is that the best you can offer? Your original post was erronious and you know it.

WindSock

Why are people going on about O'Leary running the country? Running a country is a lot different to running an airline business.

And think of the flights as nothing more than a coach trip. Because thats all it is, only cheaper and it gets you out of Ireland.

yuloni

This post has been deleted.

niceirishfella

WindSock wrote: »

Why are people going on about O'Leary running the country? Running a country is a lot different to running an airline business.

Its not you know.

jimmycrackcorm

So what we actually need is a dictator....

General Zod

niceirishfella wrote: »

.......is that the best you can offer? Your original post was erronious and you know it.

Ok, how about this.


Michael O'Leary locked Ryanair into buying oil at $120 a barrel at the peak of oil prices. Prices subsequently tumbled, which has had far more of an impact on Ryanair's books than any "airport tax" that he bloats about.

WindSock

niceirishfella wrote: »

Its not you know.

Do you think he would give a hoot about social policy?

'Can't pay your mortgage? No one will hire you because you had no time or money to get a qualification when you left school to look after your sick mother because she couldn't afford the hospital bills? Tough luck. Go join the League of Losers'

yuloni

This post has been deleted.

drkpower

jimmyendless wrote: »

O'Leary seems to think that the favourite and cheapest are the same thing.
People go with Ryanair cause of the price from A to B and that the flights run on time(I think). Not for the service and the likeability of them.

If I could afford to, I would avoid them.

Fair enough, my favourite way to travel is by private jet with unlimited champagne and dancing girls...

In the real world, my favourite airline tends to be decided on a number of factors, chief amongst them being price. So if I choose Ryanair more than most, then isnt Ryanair, for all practical purposes, my 'favourite airline'?

GavRedKing

I agree, what Ryanair offers is pretty easy to see, the cheapest way from A to B. anybody that takes this option know well what there offering and what there not.

Ive flown with Ryanair a couple of times the last few months to England and ive not had problems and I wouldnt have went for the more expensive option regardless, this day in age I personally will take the cheapest option of travel where it is possible and reasonable to do so.

General Zod

Condi wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

eye for savings?

What, threaten to pull the entire industry out of areas iunless they agree to your cutthroat pricing structure? This is the same tactic people deride Tesco for doing, yet Michael O'Leary gets lauded for it as an "eye for savings".

Is 2 euro charge per person per ticket "transaction charge" an "eye for savings" given it's all done in the same transaction?

Is charging for wheelchairs an "eye for savings"?

Ryanair stealth charge you out the wazoo, so lets cut the crap about it being "low cost".

humanji

drkpower wrote: »

Fair enough, my favourite way to travel is by private jet with unlimited champagne and dancing girls...

In the real world, my favourite airline tends to be decided on a number of factors, chief amongst them being price. So if I choose Ryanair more than most, then isnt Ryanair, for all practical purposes, my 'favourite airline'?

It's your favourite airline if it's your favourite airline. It's not your favourite airline if you only take it because you can't afford anything better.

Rob_l

niceirishfella wrote: »

Now, you're trying to steer away fromwhat you originally posted, you said
"Governments are not ment to be run as for-profit enterprises".

I think all right minded people will agree its better for a country to be run like a profitable business and therefore it can provide the services/needs to its people. Rather than be in debt all the time and have shyte services?!

Especially as our dear and glorious leaders try to liken themselves to companies boards and CEO's and used that at times to justify increasing their wages

humanji

General Zod wrote: »

eye for savings?

What, threaten to pull the entire industry out of areas iunless they agree to your cutthroat pricing structure? This is the same tactic people deride Tesco for doing, yet Michael O'Leary gets lauded for it as an "eye for savings".

Is 2 euro charge per person per ticket "transaction charge" an "eye for savings" given it's all done in the same transaction?

Is charging for wheelchairs an "eye for savings"?

Ryanair stealth charge you out the wazoo, so lets cut the crap about it being "low cost".

You do realise that you've pretty much proven how a MOL style of government would be a good thing? I mean, Ryanair are cheap. You can save a lot of money by choosing them over other airlines. But he still makes a profit.

The government spend a fortune on what is unecessary and have us all f*cked. Which would you prefer?

I don't think MOL would be good in government, but someone with a bit of business sense that maybe looked out for the country once in a while instead of only looking after their friends and family would be a hell of an improvement over the shower we have at the moment.

Drummerboy08

General Zod wrote: »

eye for savings?

What, threaten to pull the entire industry out of areas iunless they agree to your cutthroat pricing structure? This is the same tactic people deride Tesco for doing, yet Michael O'Leary gets lauded for it as an "eye for savings".

Is 2 euro charge per person per ticket "transaction charge" an "eye for savings" given it's all done in the same transaction?

Is charging for wheelchairs an "eye for savings"?

Ryanair stealth charge you out the wazoo, so lets cut the crap about it being "low cost".

I booked a return flight to London yesterday for meself and the missus. Guess what it cost.

€0.04. Yes, 4 cent.

That's all it cost me, no "stealth" charges, no credit card charges, nada. Just 4 cent.

Bus Eireann wouldnt get me 20 feet down the road for 4 cent, Iarnrod Eireann wanted €30 to go one way from Galway on a train. A taxi cost me €16 last night to get home from the pub.

Are you on this planet, or do you post from Mars or something? How is a return flight to a different country for 4 cent not a saving?

I think you should cut your crap about Ryanair being High cost.

gerardk55

totally agree with rob l. I know it's off topic but if the government are bench marked against the private sector in terms of pay and conditions why can't we look at them from a private sector point of view??

As for Ryanair, for european travel I wouldn't look beyond them. Play by their rules and you'll be grand.