Before Venting at Ryanair - Remember What They Have Done For Us
The announcement that Ryanair is cancelling over 2000 flights, affecting over 250,000 customers is an epic company PR disaster, and as Social Media users meltdown and vent about the impact of the decision, it's also important to take stock and give Ryanair some credit.
Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Leary is an overly confident man who loves to generate a headline with outlandish claims and wacky ideas. He is also unlikely many big company bosses by facing his customers and apologising for the problem, and admitting this issue is down to his own company failing to manage resources correctly.
Of course, many people will be affected, delayed or may even need to cancel planned trips, and maybe my own pragmatism is based on my flights being unaffected during this period. It's also important to acknowledge what Ryanair has done for European travel.
Without Ryanair, many travellers would not have explored so much of Europe. Visiting friends and family in foreign countries is now like taking a bus ride, and with services like Ryanair, holidaymakers have broken the shackles of the tour operators.
In return, we the travellers have repaid this service by overfilling checked in luggage, breaking the rules regarding onboard bags and got blindly drunk on flights.
Ryanair has a long way to go to receive the love from its customers. Seemingly high extra charges, lack of communication at airports and inappropriate adverting campaigns - however, Ryanair isn't trying to offer a five-star service.
What they are good for is getting from A to B simply at an affordable price. If this is not the required service - buy from another operator.
