Speaking of which, I see that Sarah Carey is delighted that Michael O'Leary is sticking it to the government by calling for an EGM over Aer Lingus's move from Shannon to Belfast. Sarah says that "I just LOVE him for taking this stance" so I think it's safe to say she's impressed!
Sadly, my capacity for love is more limited. Michael O'Leary has never knowingly undersold himself, but it's worth remembering that he doesn't personally own the shares to Aer Lingus and nor does he own Ryanair. He's an agent of the Ryanair shareholders and is under the same statutory duty as Aer Lingus's managers to maximise returns on their shares.
As I mentioned before, Ryanair's shareholders were not best pleased with the original Aer Lingus bid, so whatever O'Leary is up to now, he'd better make it count. My guess is that he's happy enough to have Aer Lingus flying into expensive Heathrow from Shannon where Ryanair has been competing with them successfully. He's most likely less delighted at the idea of them doing the same from Belfast when Ryanair is set to open new routes from Belfast City in October. I doubt Aer Lingus's decision was included in the Ryanair business model for Belfast.
So: what to do if you can't own your major competitor and stop them raining on your Northern Parade? And what do you do if your shareholders are wondering why you spent all of their money? Well, you do the next best thing: you perform a grandstanding wrecking job. PR and regional monopolisation all in one.
Welcome to the free market.
O'Leary in my opinion is
O'Leary in my opinion is playing a blinder - he will embarass the government that he hates. He will make life difficult for his rival company. A perfect opportunity that he is right not to miss. I detest his attitude to workers and his arrogance. But his goal has been to build a successful company at Ryanair - who can deny that he's done the job.
As for Aer Lingus - unless their customers in general renege (unlikely) then they too are doing what they have to.
The only people here who have to answer are the government. Is the Heathrow link crucial for Shannon? How important is that link for regional development? What are they going to do about it? (It is a free market yes, but only up to a point - the government can and should intervene to provide mechanisms to correct market failures. Whether subsidy or a package to attract an other airline or through regulation.
Go raibh maith agat i gcóir
Go raibh maith agat i gcóir do léarmhasa a Thomoltaigh.
As I said in today's post, I suspect that government and Ryanair are in a bit of a legal bind here. If the government were to move on this - I suspect - it would have to be through legislation rather than through an intervention as a shareholder.
That said, I entirely agree with you about O'Leary. He's the anti-Branson and this sort of playing to the gallery is right up his street. As long as he doesn't talk himself into a corner.
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