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BA accuses Ryanair of taking perverse ‘pleasure’ from annoying customers

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By John Glenday, Reporter

November 13, 2013 | 1 min read

Willie Walsh, head of British Airways has taken a swipe at his Ryanair opposite number by claiming that the budget airline took perverse pleasure from annoying its passengers.

Commenting on recent efforts by the airline to bolster its image Walsh said: “Michael is beginning to recognise that some of the things [Ryanair] was doing were irritating customers for no benefit. It had gone beyond matching expectations… for a while they were taking pleasure from irritating customers.

Despite this Walsh acknowledged that Michael O’Leary had done a brilliant job managing customer expectations at the no-frills operator, saying: “You don’t expect anything and you don’t get anything. He keeps his business model so simple. It’s an exceptionally well-managed business.”

Walsh’s comments came amidst an admission that BA’s attempt to compete with Ryanair on cost through its Go subsidiary had been a failure, succeeding only in drawing customers away from its main business.

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