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Last week, I briefly referenced Irish discount carrier Ryanair’s threat to sue the British government if security procedures were not normalized at UK airports within a week. Now, Ryanair is coming under fire for “profiting from fear.”

Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary, who has made frequent TV appearances attacking the Government’s security clampdown at airports, allegedly told an official at the Transport Department: “Every time I appear on TV I get a spike in sales.”
But Mr O’Leary, who has clashed with Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander, denounced the claim as ‘preposterous’ and denied having made the remark.
And he stepped up his war of words with the Government by claiming there was no proof that any plot to blow up airliners had ever existed.

A few points:

- That latter claim of O’Leary’s — that there was *never* a threat — is certainly kicking things up a notch with a conspiratorial flavor. I personally still believe a plot of some kind existed, but if it’s the plot that was publicly reported, it would have been ineffective, as noted earlier.

- If Ryanair is making money off of fear, it’s pretty impressive. Considering that the incentives to travel are so low right now, if someone is actually making a buck in this climate, then wow. (The airline is running ads featuring Winston Churchill making the V for Victory sign.)

- Ryanair and O’Leary need to be careful not to overstate their case: The company doesn’t have a lot of credibility when it comes to safety. (or service, for that matter)

- They lose more credibility when they’re grandstanding on television, instead of simply filing dockets in court. Don’t threaten to sue. Just sue.

Despite the holes being poked in O’Leary’s motivations, I think it’s healthy to see some corporate resistance to governments in matters of security incompetence and fearmongering. Clearly they’re running a risk of backlash from the government. But what would the consequences be? Oh, the drama…

UPDATE: UK files official charges against 10 suspects in the London plot. Looks like the UK government is trying to prove O’Leary wrong…

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tags: travel | Ryanair