Ryanair,- A turn away from brand toxicity. Do the Load and Flight planners unknowingly shine the light?

First of all RyanAir gave a profits warning. Then the often abrasive Michael O'Leary declared that the airline would be dropping some of the things that customers and would-be customers find a turnoff.

Has the airline at last been advised about the danger of becoming a toxic brand ? It has probably never been loved and, unusually for  a service business in a competitive market, has never sought to be. Its chosen, and largely successful, battleground has been network, simplicity (though some would argue that its pricing is far from that) and price.

It has been noisily dismissive and even contemptuous of criticism and has been happy to be seen as a "take it or leave it" business, neither giving nor receiving warmth. It has shown no sign of seeing any advantage in people feeling good about handing over their money to it. Unlike Easyjet which has sought to widen its appeal, especially upwards into the business travel segment, Ryanair has cheerfully accepted that a percentage of the market will actively dislike and therefore avoid it. This removed a percentage from the total numbers who might otherwise buy its product. Again, the reverse position to most businesses where widening rather than limiting appealis the name of the game.

Airlines mainly operate on very narrow margins in hopes of being compensated by volume. A few legacy majors (eg BA) deliberately "spill" lower yielding business to keep operating ratios high but in doing so they risk providing growing competitors with a useful bedrock of revenue upon which to build frequencies and thus make themselves more effective in the higher yield end of the aircraft as well (eg Emirates) . The danger is that this in turn further undermines the "spillers" market position and their ability to grow. It can lead to a downward spiral and the withdrawal from rather than increase of routes.

For a low cost carrier to deliberately limit the size of its market is high risk. If the tide goes out and demand drops it can only cut prices further. Then the margins become tighter or even disappear. When the chips are down and other things are equal it's handy to have even a small group of loyal customers who have some kind of emotional attatchment to the company and will stick with it through thick and thin. Every percentage point of market and share counts . Where there is competition on routes and leaving pricing aside ,it is unlikely that Ryanair have many such people.

Many airline industry CEOs and most marketing people in the airline industry do not now have a generalist or operational airline or aeronautical background. As result they are unaware of well honed and scientific skills used in the operational side of their business which could be of enormous value to them in defining market forces and how to deal with them. It's not a place they would normally think to go looking.

The first is the fact that aircraft stay in the air thanks to a straightforward relationship between formula made up of weight, drag, lift  and thrust/speed. The more weight and the more drag, the more lift and therefore thrust is required.  Costs go up and /or performance goes down. The less weight and drag, the better the performance and financial result.  Lack of enthusiasm for ,or worse dislike or hostility to your product =(unnecessary) weight and drag. It is therefore best avoided.  All you need to do is define what constitutes weight (eg overmanning ,low productivity) and what makes up drag (eg poor public perception, attitudes, service style) and the answers leap from the page.

The second is the dispatcher's compilation of a balance chart. This is now largely computerised but in its manual form comprises a simple diagram , done with a pen and ruler ,showing how the aircraft is affected by the weight and location of all that it carries. Ideally it should fly straight and level. That's the start point on the chart. Increases forward of the centre of gravity push the nose down while increases behind it pull the tail down. By skilful manipulation the balance can be achieved. The same principle can be applied to all the elements of approach to the market. On the plus side of the centre of gravity line can be rewards from product, service, network and schedule improvements while on the minus side can be any failings of these and their costs . All this gives a clear visual cost/benefit analysis easily understood by anyone and useful in a host of situations. It would very easily show the market advantages of being liked versus disliked. Any business should use them. Airlines start with the advantage that somewhere in their structure , but probably out of sight on the operational side, the knowledge of these simple aids already exists and is in daily use.

Maybe someone has shown Mr O'Leary these two charts and the penny/cent has dropped. Something certainly seems to have given him an "Oh my God moment" and the realisation that actually being liked by the customers and potential customers reduces drag , increases thrust and  adds a percentage to the bottom line without necessarily costing much. Even a change of tone of voice and a few behaviours can do it.  Easyjet have understood that being a bit cuddly rather than hostile and punitive can work wonders.  A new dawn for Ryanair?