Woe O'Leary

Hot on the heels of Michael O’Leary’s apocalyptic warning that all flights to and from the EU will be cancelled for months following Brexit, the airline is softening up the travelling public by announcing that, “in an attempt to improve punctuality,” up to 50 flights a day may be cancelled (8 schedules from Dublin were cancelled this morning).  Whilst O’Leary blames Brexit for future chaos, in the latter case, the disruption seems entirely down to Ryanair mismanagement.  The problem arises because of the difficulty Ryanair is having in complying with new EU regulations about annual leave for its pilots and staff.  The airline, in yet another mea culpa, admits that it has “messed up” but points out that only a small number of passengers will be affected.  My estimate of a “small number is as follows: 50 flights per day at, say 180 passengers per flight for 42 days equals about 387,000 disgruntled customers.  Ryanair says that affected passengers will be offered a refund or seats on a later flight. The cost of a refund, if the fare was only a few quid, is probably irrelevant.  But there is, of course, another EU regulation pertinent in these circumstances under which passengers are entitled to compensation if their flight is delayed or cancelled.  The sums involved are substantial.  The get out for airlines is usually that the delay or cancellation was due to “extraordinary circumstances.” However, it is likely that the cause of the cancellations, “we messed up,” would not qualify for “extraordinary circumstances” so O’Leary seems set for a big pay-out.  In a delightful case of schadenfreude, O’Leary may be about to find out that his eurothusiasm is about to bite him in his bottom line.  But let us hope he stumps up with characteristic good grace?