Good Bad Billionaire Michael O’Leary: Ryanair’s cost-cutting king
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Nov 10, 2025 Discover the audacious rise of Ryanair under Michael O'Leary's leadership! From his early hustles to transforming a struggling airline into a €28 billion giant, his strategies will astonish you. Explore O'Leary's radical cost-cutting tactics, groundbreaking turnaround methods, and public stunts that kept him in the headlines. Learn about his encounters with labor disputes, the impact of EU liberalization, and how O'Leary's provocative branding reshaped Europe's travel scene. Ultimately, is he a visionary or just controversial?
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Dallas Dinner That Changed Ryanair
- Michael O'Leary learned the 25-minute plane turnaround idea over drinks with Herb Kelleher in Dallas and it became a blueprint for Ryanair.
- That drunken late-night lesson led directly to Ryanair adopting pit-stop style turnarounds to boost aircraft utilisation.
Strip Complexity To Cut Costs
- Cut non-essential services and simplify operations to lower costs, eg single aircraft type and no free meals.
- Reallocate staff time to revenue-generating activities like onboard sales.
Turnarounds As Cost Engine
- Speeding up turnarounds increased daily flights per aircraft and cut unit costs dramatically.
- O'Leary treated turnaround efficiency like a Formula One pit stop to enable ultra-low fares.
