Ryanair CEO and Mullingar man, Michael O’Leary, took to the airwaves last Saturday, to give his take on the state of his airline, the current government as well as his retirement plans.. or lack thereof.
Speaking in a lengthy interview on The Business on RTÉ Radio 1, the colourful aviator gave a full-account of Ryanair’s plans for the future, which were confirmed on Monday when it was announced that it had placed an order for new aircraft valued at $22 billion.
Asked if he still uses his notorious taxi plate to get to work O’Leary said “Yes indeed on a daily basis. I employ two full-time drivers. One of the great signs of the economic recovery is that for about four years I didn’t need the taxi plate on the M4 motorway. For the last six months I’ve noticed an increase in HiAce vans and the traffic is picking up.”
Asked how he unwinds at the weekend, O’Leary gave an invaluable plug for his hometown as well as Mullingar Rugby Club, for whom he trains the under-10 team.
“The way I’ve always wound down was to go back down home to Mullingar. I grew up there and it’s a great town and very nice lifestyle with nice people. No one treats you like a rockstar which clearly I’m not and it’s important to my children as well. I don’t want them to be snobby kids running around shopping malls,” he said.
O’Leary also gave his brief take on speculation of his retirement. “The prospect always exists. We’ve a wide management team at the airline who could take over but I’ve committed to five more years.”
On the economic crisis and recovery Michael was straightforward, showing frustration towards the running of the country’s public sector.
“The economy would be fixed in two years but my ideas wouldn’t get votes. We have some talent but not enough,” he said, going on to describe what he would do were he in charge.
“The fist thing I’d do is scrap the idea that civil servants can’t be fired. Bad performers in the public sector need to be booted out. They drag down the quality of the public sector in terms of efficiency and output. There are some wonderful gardaí and nurses in the public sector but there also some total tossers in there as well.” he concluded.
