New Ryanair ForumDimwits ! Regulatory nincompoops !
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Dimwits ! Regulatory nincompoops !
by atoutprix Sun 2 Jun 2013 - 10:59
A few extracts of the MO'L interview in the Telegraph today :
Haranguing people who seemingly want to thwart the continued march of Ryanair is a sport for O’Leary. And today he is at the top of his game, hitting volley after volley, as he mulls over a report issued the previous day by the Competition Commission, which suggests it will force the self-styled “ultra low-cost carrier” to sell down all or part of its near 30pc stake in Aer Lingus.
“There’s more jokes in it than a Monty Python script,” O’Leary trills in his high-pitched Irish accent. Aer Lingus is a “Mickey Mouse airline” and Christoph Mueller, its chief executive, is “smoking dope” if he thinks institutional investors are interested in buying stakes in the carrier.
But beneath the clownish facade is a steely intellect that unleashes its full force when anyone dares to stand in Ryanair’s way. And the organisation currently in the Eye of Sauron is the Competition Commission.
Last Thursday, the commission published the preliminary findings of an investigation into Ryanair’s 29.8pc stake in Aer Lingus and warned O’Leary’s carrier that it would be forced to reduce its holding – potentially to as little as 3pc.
O’Leary takes a brief pause before deciding how best to describe the UK’s competition authorities. “What would I call them, be nice to them,” he says to himself, before settling on “dimwits” and “people in a basement in London who apparently have been cut off from all ******* reality for the last six and a half years”.
How can UK authorities raise concerns over a handful of flights between Britain and Ireland when the European Commission ruled, just three months ago in a separate inquiry, that competition between the two carriers had in fact intensified since 2007?
He lists countless occasions when Ryanair has sought to block Aer Lingus from making certain decisions only to be “ignored” – one particular bone of contention is Aer Lingus’s payments towards a pension deficit for which the airline claims to have no further liability.
O’Leary also points out the Irish airline recently sold a pair of Heathrow slots to British Airways. But at the root of the aviation boss’s argument is the question why UK competition authorities should be investigating a six-and-a-half-year-old stake in an Irish airline at all.
Aer Lingus affects the lives of no British consumers. I doubt if even 1pc of the UK population has ever flown on, or ever will fly on, Aer Lingus.
“You can see UK consumers across the length and breadth of the country can’t sleep in their beds at night for fear of what might happen to Aer Lingus – without which they will be pinned on the island of Great Britain, unable to travel,” he says sarcastically. “God help us. I mean talk about the People’s Front of Judea.”
O’Leary protests against the idea he is obsessed with Aer Lingus: “We’ve been sitting on this thing for six-and-a-half years. This idea that I run around obsessed with Aer Lingus is a bit mad.”
He points out that in almost every other European country, the dominant airline or national flag-carrier has been allowed to swallow up its second or third biggest competitor as the airlines are forced to consolidate to remain in the air.
“You go to Germany, Lufthansa is allowed to buy Germanwings and a bundle of other German airlines. And you go to the UK, BA was allowed to buy British Caledonian and British Midland (bmi). You have, at least to some degree, national champions there.”
Ryanair argues that the Competition Commission won’t be able to force a sale of its stake until the appeals process in Europe has been exhausted, meaning the regulatory battle could roll on for years to come.
“It could go on for another 10 years yet,” says O’Leary.
Even if Ryanair is ultimately forced to sell, he questions who will step up to the plate and buy the stake.
And with that the human whirlwind moves on.
Read it in full on :
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/10092721/Michael-OLeary-Ryanairs-row-over-Aer-Lingus-Its-like-a-Monty-Python-script.html
Haranguing people who seemingly want to thwart the continued march of Ryanair is a sport for O’Leary. And today he is at the top of his game, hitting volley after volley, as he mulls over a report issued the previous day by the Competition Commission, which suggests it will force the self-styled “ultra low-cost carrier” to sell down all or part of its near 30pc stake in Aer Lingus.
“There’s more jokes in it than a Monty Python script,” O’Leary trills in his high-pitched Irish accent. Aer Lingus is a “Mickey Mouse airline” and Christoph Mueller, its chief executive, is “smoking dope” if he thinks institutional investors are interested in buying stakes in the carrier.
But beneath the clownish facade is a steely intellect that unleashes its full force when anyone dares to stand in Ryanair’s way. And the organisation currently in the Eye of Sauron is the Competition Commission.
Last Thursday, the commission published the preliminary findings of an investigation into Ryanair’s 29.8pc stake in Aer Lingus and warned O’Leary’s carrier that it would be forced to reduce its holding – potentially to as little as 3pc.
O’Leary takes a brief pause before deciding how best to describe the UK’s competition authorities. “What would I call them, be nice to them,” he says to himself, before settling on “dimwits” and “people in a basement in London who apparently have been cut off from all ******* reality for the last six and a half years”.
How can UK authorities raise concerns over a handful of flights between Britain and Ireland when the European Commission ruled, just three months ago in a separate inquiry, that competition between the two carriers had in fact intensified since 2007?
He lists countless occasions when Ryanair has sought to block Aer Lingus from making certain decisions only to be “ignored” – one particular bone of contention is Aer Lingus’s payments towards a pension deficit for which the airline claims to have no further liability.
O’Leary also points out the Irish airline recently sold a pair of Heathrow slots to British Airways. But at the root of the aviation boss’s argument is the question why UK competition authorities should be investigating a six-and-a-half-year-old stake in an Irish airline at all.
Aer Lingus affects the lives of no British consumers. I doubt if even 1pc of the UK population has ever flown on, or ever will fly on, Aer Lingus.
“You can see UK consumers across the length and breadth of the country can’t sleep in their beds at night for fear of what might happen to Aer Lingus – without which they will be pinned on the island of Great Britain, unable to travel,” he says sarcastically. “God help us. I mean talk about the People’s Front of Judea.”
O’Leary protests against the idea he is obsessed with Aer Lingus: “We’ve been sitting on this thing for six-and-a-half years. This idea that I run around obsessed with Aer Lingus is a bit mad.”
He points out that in almost every other European country, the dominant airline or national flag-carrier has been allowed to swallow up its second or third biggest competitor as the airlines are forced to consolidate to remain in the air.
“You go to Germany, Lufthansa is allowed to buy Germanwings and a bundle of other German airlines. And you go to the UK, BA was allowed to buy British Caledonian and British Midland (bmi). You have, at least to some degree, national champions there.”
Ryanair argues that the Competition Commission won’t be able to force a sale of its stake until the appeals process in Europe has been exhausted, meaning the regulatory battle could roll on for years to come.
“It could go on for another 10 years yet,” says O’Leary.
Even if Ryanair is ultimately forced to sell, he questions who will step up to the plate and buy the stake.
And with that the human whirlwind moves on.
Read it in full on :
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/10092721/Michael-OLeary-Ryanairs-row-over-Aer-Lingus-Its-like-a-Monty-Python-script.html
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