August 25, 2006. Copyright 2006, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Michael OÕLeary: airline revolutionary not afraid to challenge the big boys
By Joanna Griffin

LONDON, August 25, Graphic News:  When it comes to picking fights, no opponent has proved too mighty for maverick Irish businessman Michael OÕLeary. So it should come as no surprise that it is the Ryanair boss who has raised a fist to the British government over new security measures that threaten to lose airlines millions and plunge the industry into further chaos.

In his characteristic no-holds-barred style, OÕLeary has threatened to sue the government for compensation unless airport security quickly returns to normal.

OÕLeary, seated next to a Winston Churchill look-alike in reference to his airlineÕs advertising campaign to Òkeep Britain flyingÓ said the new measures including body checks and hand luggage restrictions would have terrorists Òlaughing in their cavesÓ.

Ryanair, which has in the past urged passengers to carry on more luggage, claims the new rules have so far cost the airline £2 million. Though no doubt motivated by his bottom line, OÕLeary has also voiced wider complaints that the BAA failed to provide enough staff during the recent terror alert, emerging as an unlikely champion of the airlines.

More than anyone, OÕLeary has shaken up air travel to ensure that flying is no longer just the preserve of the rich, a feat which has entailed getting the backs up of traditional airlines. Under his stewardship, Ryanair has become one of the worldÕs most profitable and popular airlines: this year it will carry around 35 million people across 362 routes to 22 countries. It has made him one of IrelandÕs richest men -- he is worth almost £300m.

Although budget airlines took off in the Noughties, when the number of UK operators exploded, OÕLeary had been charting this course for some time. Ryanair turned 20 in 2005, not long after its chief executive told a journalist that the airline would see off rival newcomers in an Òaviation bloodbathÓ.

But OÕLearyÕs motormouth style is just one reason that his reputation precedes him. Born to an affluent farming family in 1961, the self-described Òjumped-up paddyÓ has wound up everyone from Ryanair staff to Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in his relentless pursuit of the bottom line.

OÕLeary studied at Trinity College, Dublin -- he did not graduate -- before working as a tax consultant for KMPG. In 1991 he went from working as financial adviser to Ryanair founder Tony Ryan to become the airlineÕs deputy chief executive.

At the time, Ryanair was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. OÕLeary flew to Dallas to study changes at Southwest Airlines, and returned to put what he had learned into practice. A decade later he would brag that only nuclear war could stop the airlineÕs phenomenal ascent. Few would dare disagree.

RyanairÕs success story has been punctuated by OÕLearyÕs clashes with airport authorities, unions, environmental groups and others. But the airline itself has come into the firing line for dubious practices, such as advertising flights to major cities when the destinations were elsewhere, refusing to provide wheelchairs to disabled passengers, or refunds. OÕLeary says: ÒWe donÕt fall over ourselves if they say my granny fell ill.Ó

At the same time, OÕLeary has consistently cut costs and passed this on to passengers in the form of cheap fares. It is hard not to admire his brazen style and business savvy. It was OÕLeary who forced the dissolution of IrelandÕs Aer Rianta airport authority in 2004, and prompted the shake-up of airlines whose on-board services led to high fares.

OÕLearyÕs Ryanair has helped to transform peopleÕs travel habits around Europe. It is Ryanair that ferries people to the continent for hen and stag parties, or eastern Europeans to the UK in search of work, or Irish passengers to visit relatives in the UK, which is where it all started. 

The question for rivals, for BritainÕs Airport Authority, and now the British government, is where will it end?

OÕLeary lives near Mullingar with wife Anita and baby son Matthew. A favourite pastime is breeding racehorses, and in 2006 his horse War of Attrition won the prestigious Cheltenham Gold Cup.
/ENDS