More Flies With Honey—Ryanair Says Being Nicer Led to Profit Spike

Ryanair reported 1 million more passengers in December. (AP Photo/Shawn Pogatchnik)

Whoever said that personality goes a long way is a genius as far as Ryanair is concerned. The struggling Irish budget airline worked to shake its Scrooge-like reputation last year, and it was rewarded with a 20 percent increase in December passengers year over year, along with record-high stock.

The airline reported 1 million extra passengers in December, with seat occupancy rising from 81 percent to 88 percent a year earlier. After making two profit warnings within two months in 2013, the company’s stock rose 58 percent in 2014.

Ryanair said the good news was a result of lower fares, a better booking strategy, and its “Always Getting Better” customer-service initiative.

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Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary conceded that the company had to stop “unnecessarily p*ssing people off.” O’Leary himself was partially to blame for that, at one point calling customers who failed to print their own boarding passes “idiots,” and openly considering charging for plane lavatories.

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary (AP Photo/Claude Paris, File)

With Ryanair losing ground to rival airline easyJet, O’Leary looked to redeem the airline in 2014 by adopting more generous carry-on baggage rules, allocating seating, and eliminating some punitive charges. Ryanair also appealed to U.S. travelers by revamping the website so they could pay in American dollars.

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“With our new routes, increased frequencies, improving customer experience and Business Plus service, Ryanair continues to deliver so much more than the lowest fares in every market we operate in,” said Ryanair chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs.

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