Turbulent airline chief tops fantasy PR league

Emma Gunby

I've always found the best cure for a Sunday morning hangover is a three hour alfresco brunch, accompanied by ten cups of strong black coffee and a pile of Sunday papers roughly the equivalent height of Blackpool Tower.

Under normal circumstances my brain can usually only cope with a News of the World celebrity sex scandal or the travel section of the Sunday Times.

But this weekend the Indy provided me with the perfect comfort article for my sore head - an interview by Dominic Lawson with my favourite businessman, Ryanair's outspoken chief Michael O'Leary.

If there was a fantasy league of PR clients, Mr O'Leary would be top of my list.

The man appears to have absolutely no fear and I reckon if you cut him in half he'd have the mantra "No publicity is bad publicity" running through him like a stick of rock.

According to the man himself: "Privately and personally, I don't think I'm quite as obnoxious as I come across. But it gets great publicity - the more controversial you are, the more publicity you generate for Ryanair."

After all this is an Irishman who once dressed up as the Pope to launch his airline's new route to Rome.

Personally, I am a huge advocate of being controversial and it is a concept I am constantly trying to instil in all my clients.

However, I can understand the obvious reluctance some businesses may feel in adopting this stance.

Sitting on the fence, taking the middle ground and avoiding causing offence is often the easiest and simplest option.

But is it the most effective? I seriously doubt it.

O'Leary and fellow airline boss Sir Richard Branson both quite deliberately court the Marmite effect (you either love them or hate them).

By having strong opinions and not being afraid of controversy they pretty much guarantee daily column inches dedicated to their own personal profiles and businesses.
And does the fact that O'Leary refuses to apologise for making disabled passengers pay an extra charge to use their wheelchairs offend me? Yes, I think it does.

But you have to admire the honesty of his justification: "If you don't like the wheelchair charge, don't fly with us. But you can't expect all these services to be provided for nothing. We're not some bloody government institution. We're supposed to be making a profit."

He is an honest man in a world full of people too scared to have an opinion on anything and I can only applaud that.

And do his outrageous statements put me off flying with him?

Absolutely not. It simply ensures that next time I try to book a cheap flight, his website will be one of my first ports of call as O'Leary's incredible PR machine has ensured that the Ryanair brand is firmly embedded in my subconscious.

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