| View Larger Image | Ryanair: The Full Story of the Controversial Low-Cost Airline | Paperbackby Siobhan Creaton (Author)
| List Price: | $14.95 | | Price: | $11.21 | | You Save: | $3.74 (25%) | | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| | Binding: | Paperback | | Publisher: | Aurum Press | | Edition: | Updated Edth Edition | | Page Count: | 272 Pages | | Publication Date: | August 01, 2007 | | Sales Rank: | 131,409st |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
The supercharged growth of this low-cost airline has actually changed the way countless people live their lives, whether it be Ireland's new "Ryanair Generation" for whom its cheap flights to Dublin have eliminated much permanent emigration to the UK, or the thousands of Britons now enabled to buy holiday homes in rural France. This is the first book to tell the full story of the Ryanair phenomenon, from its inauspicious beginnings to its current dominance, from the secret of its business strategy to its cavalier stunts and practices. Ryanair employees past and present were interviewed, as well as its top management and those at its major rivals such as British Airways and easyJet, to produce an authoritative, objective, and compulsive account of one of the most colorful companies in Europe. With Ryanair continuing to expand, the battle for the low-cost airline market in Europe becoming ever more cutthroat, and chief executive Michael O'Leary happy to do battle with everyone from airports (for their landing charges) to his own pilots (over pay and conditions)—and generate an endless stream of PR and news stories in the process—this edition is fully updated to take account of all Ryanair's most recent history. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 8 reviews)
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Ryanair - Do not fly this airline by G. Banner (New York)  1 Stars
August 06, 2008
There is a real problem with Ryanair charging for the extra weight for baggage on their flights. Do not fly Ryanair, these are bad people. If your luggage weighs more than 6.9lbs you are in for a rude awakening. (Think about when you buy groceries equaling 6.9lbs or 15kgs. I have bought a roast weighing this much.) My flight with paying for extra baggage plus priority seating and other fees originally came to $462. The additional charge for my baggage came to $624. My round trip in total was $1082. I thought I would be paying $462. The British Airways flight on my way to and from London originating from JFK in New York didn't charge me a penny extra for baggage. Take a connecting flight through a different country to reach your destination. Fly a professional airline. Do not fly Ryanair.
How would you like to fly yourself or better yet send a college age child overseas with Ryanair and have them find out at the check-in counter that they owe an additional $312 each way or they can't get on the plane. The luggage was in a regular 28 inch Travelpro suiter with just clothes. Do not fly Ryanair. Fly through Germany, Prague or somewhere. I am appalled that the British transportation authorities allow Ryanair to rip people off in this way. I hope they go out of business.
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Exciting and Inspirational by M. Khatib (Sydney)  5 Stars
May 29, 2008
Siobhan Creaton, the former Finance Correspondent of the Irish Times newspaper, did a stellar job in writing this book. Very well researched, detailed and fast paced, this story is about the bumpy but enormously successful journey of an Irish low-budget, cut-throat airline who beat the odds to become one of the most profitable airlines in Europe.
Tony Ryan, a wealthy Irish businessman who originally worked for Ireland's national carrier Aer Lingus, founded Ryanair in 1986. He had a vision of a low-budget, no-frills airline: "If people want a cut of tea or coffee, let them pay for it. If they want to buy tickets let them stand". During its first few years of operation, the company recorded heavy losses and was on the brink of bankruptcy in the late 1980s.
In 1988, Ryan hired Michael O'Leary, a confident 27 year old accountant and school friend of Ryan's sons Cathal and Declan. Sceptical about the airline at first, O'Leary later took on a heavier workload and became more interested in all aspects of the business, after Ryan agreed to his proposal "If I make 2 million pounds will you give me 10 per cent?". O'Leary went about aggressively cutting costs and in 1994 became chief executive.
In the mid to late 90s, Ryanair was turned around to become very profitable and a major player in Irish aviation. By this time, O'Leary was fantastically rich. He continued heavy cost-cutting and expanded Ryanair's routes all over Europe. His business model was based on Herb Kelleher's Southwest Airlines, a widely successful low budget in the US.
Creaton gives countless examples of Ryanair's careless treatment of customers, O'Leary's rude and aggressive management style and the airline's horrible treatment of its own staff. Numerous times the Irish carrier has made headlines for not helping disabled passengers board a plane or charging them for using a wheelchair. When ice suppliers bumped up prices, O'Leary refused to pay the higher cost and the airline simply stopped serving ice with drinks for some time before a deal was eventually made. When asked about how Ryanair deals with customers seeking a refund on their tickets, O'Leary once replied "We don't fall over ourselves if they say 'My granny fell ill'. What part of 'No Refund' don't you understand? You are not getting a refund so f*** off".
Given all Ryanair's flaws, reading about the airline's successes made me appreciate just how much the company has revolutionised aviation in the UK and other parts of Europe. These days many flights are offered free - travellers only need to pay the airport tax (usually around 20 pounds for a return flight) - an amazing feat for an airline that in the late 1980s was in danger of folding.
Siobhan Creaton has written a fantastic book - an exciting, insightful and inspirational business story.
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Unbiased history of the airline and man you love to hate! by Kalenjin (Taipei) 5 Stars
January 06, 2008
This is an excellent, well written, well edited brief history of Ryanair, and by default, Michael O'Leary. Creaton does not pull any punches when describing O'Leary's methods for dealing with conflict, but she does not take sides. Love him or hate him, O'Leary took a near-bankrupt airline and turned it into a legimate world-class carrier.
Creaton also spends a great deal of time explaining the role of Tony Ryan, and how O'Leary intially advised the Ryan's to close the airline, and only at Tony's incessant goading did O'Leary agree to take on the task of making the airline successful. Tony Ryan is as much a part of the airline as O'Leary, although much more low key.
Michael O'Leary is a lot of things...and he would be the first to admit it. When accussed of being Tony Ryan's bagman, O'Leary replied, "I've always been Tony Ryan's bagman!"
Creaton clearly conducted extensive interviews and an enormous amount of research to write this book, and it shows. Give it a read!
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The southwest of Europe! by Lehigh History Student  4 Stars
December 19, 2006
Ryan Air is the southwest airlines of Europe and has done very well against the inefficient Flag Carriers over there. This book is the story of how that came about and is done very well. My biggest complaint of the book is that the print is way to small. The information is great and the stories told about O'Leahry are very entertaining. If you are looking for a sense of how no frills airlines will succeed this is a great book to read. It really explains the airline business in Europe and is a great comparison for southwest airlines.
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Well-written, engaging corporate tale by Rolf Dobelli (Switzerland) 5 Stars
December 21, 2005
The story of how discount airfares came to Europe is no fairy tale. This book is a disturbing story about the underside of deregulating Ireland's airline industry. It's a tale of temperamental executives, overspeculation, greed, government intervention, mistreated customers and the challenges of free market operations. Given a wealth of material and an exciting industry, author Siobhán Creaton delivers a well-written, engaging corporate tale. The cast includes a combustible mix of powerful personalities who sometimes, but not always, tolerate each other. There is also a revolving door of top executives who serve the company's purposes and leave, as well as horror stories about how cost cutting created festering customer relations. Creaton packs this into an exciting story that moves quickly, though it rambles now and then. We recommend this compelling profile to anyone interested in corporate case studies, executive management or modern aviation.
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