Fantastic article from the Guardian on Ryanair’s attempt to buy Aer Lingus. While it’s chock full of financial information that’s in flux right now, we found the tidbits on CEO Michael O’Leary to be quite delicious. O’Leary is big on publicity stunts and general lowbrow craziness, yet he went to the best prep school in Ireland, and thanks to his success as Ryanair’s CEO, he’s got $570 million fortune. What’s most shocking is to what lengths Ryanair will go to save a buck. The lack of food, reclining seats and window shades are well-known, but some of these ideas are horrific:
O'Leary has made himself rich, with a fortune estimated at €450m, a beautiful country house at Gigginstown, and the ability to indulge his passion for horse racing. He has done all this by obsessive focus on the no-frills business model: low costs - applicants have to pay for their own interviews and staff buy their uniforms - low fares, short-haul routes and antipathy to unions.
They have to pay for their own interview? No wonder Ryanair employees seem so depressed. They’re in debt to the airline before they’re hired.
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