Irish low cost carrier Ryanair is notorious for their loud, over-the-top, and straightforward CEO, Michael O’Leary.
Years ago he boasted about how Ryanair was eventually going to launch transatlantic service, and how they’d even have business class on those planes. The best part? They’d offer “beds and blowjobs” for free.
That transatlantic service was closer to becoming a reality as of earlier in the week, when Ryanair announced that their board approved a plan to begin transatlantic service to up to 14 cities by the end of the decade. All they needed to do was acquire longhaul aircraft. Prices would apparently start at £10 each way, which doesn’t seem that out of line for Ryanair.
Only we’re finding out today that apparently the board didn’t actually approve transatlantic flights, and it’s all a blunder. Via the Irish Independent:
In a major blunder, the country’s second-biggest company had to issue a humiliating statement to the stock exchange saying its board had not approved a move on flights to the US.
The airline had announced two days earlier its board had approved flights between Europe and the United States, and planned to start services to up to 14 US cities by the end of the decade.
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary said the airline had “f***ed up”, describing the original statement as “a miscommunication”. But the error is hugely damaging to the credibility of the company and raises enormous question marks around its management.
This is quite interesting, and you have to wonder where the miscommunication came from that caused this blunder, or whether this is somehow a strategic play on Ryanair’s part. Could it be that they want to keep their plans secret for as long as possible to not give competitors a heads up?
Regardless, I don’t think this fundamentally alters Ryanair’s desire to fly transatlantic. It’s clear that they still intend to. It just seems like they might not have been as far along in the process of executing this as they claimed.
What do you make of this? Do you think Ryanair just jumped the gun, is being sneaky, or do you think they changed their mind on transatlantic service?
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