Analysis of Leadership in Ryanair Airlines

This report analyses the leadership issues faced by Ryanair Airlines due to the massive cancellation of flights and the leadership of Michael O’Leary based on different leadership theories. The report discusses the traits of Michael O’Leary based on Trait theory, Transactional leadership and Transformational leadership. The report also discusses the relation of leadership with the issue that has occurred.

Running head: ANALYSIS OF LEADERSHIP IN RYANAIR AIRLINES
ANALYSIS OF LEADERSHIP IN RYANAIR AIRLINES
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ANALYSIS OF LEADERSHIP IN RYANAIR AIRLINES
Executive Summary
This report is based on the analysis of the issues that have been faced by Ryanair Airlines due
to the massive cancellation of flights. The reason behind this cancellation had been the
shortage of enough pilots in the workforce of the company. The leadership related issues
related to Ryanair Airlines have also been discussed in the report. The leadership of Michael
O’Leary is also analysed based on different leadership theories. The style of the leader has
been found to be quite unique in nature as compared to the other organizations. The leader
has however not been able to build successful relationships with the employees and the
customers due to the drastic decisions that have been taken by him.

2ANALYSIS OF LEADERSHIP IN RYANAIR AIRLINES
Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................3
Analysis of the issues related to leadership in Ryanair..................................................3
Analysis of leadership based on Trait theory.............................................................4
Analysis of Transactional leadership.........................................................................5
Analysis of Transformational leadership...................................................................5
Relation of leadership with the issue that has occurred.............................................6
Conclusion....................................................................................................................11
References....................................................................................................................12

3ANALYSIS OF LEADERSHIP IN RYANAIR AIRLINES
Introduction
Ryanair Airlines is a low-cost or budget airline which was founded in the 1984 and
has its headquarter in Swords, Dublin, Ireland and the primary base of the operations are
located in London and Dublin mainly. The organization was named as the largest airlines in
Europe and has carried the most number of international passengers than any other airlines
organization. Ryanair has been operating greater than 400 Boeing aircrafts and has a backup
and training is also provided to the pilots. The company is characterised by the rapid speed of
its expansion which is a result of the deregulation of aviation industry in entire Europe in the
year 1997. The network that has been created by Ryanair serves more than 30 countries in
Europe, Middle East and Africa (Ryanair.com. 2018). The organization has been successful
in growing after its establishment in the year 1984. Ryanair has shown a growth from a small
airline organization to the airline based service provider in Europe. The revenues of the
company have seen a rise from 231 million Euros in the year 1998 to around 1843 million
Euros in the year 2003.
The analysis in the report will be based on the issue that had been faced by Ryanair in
the year 2016 due to the massive cancellation of flights by the management. The reasons for
the occurrence of these issues based on the leadership of the organization will be analysed in
the report.
Analysis of the issues related to leadership in Ryanair
The CEO of Ryanair Airlines Michael O’Leary has been considered as a successful
leader with respect to the functions that have been performed by him to improve the
operations of the company in the industry. The rapid growth of the organization has been
based on the effective leadership that has been depicted by the CEO and ways by which he
was able to manage the workforce. The leader of the company has provided his massive

4ANALYSIS OF LEADERSHIP IN RYANAIR AIRLINES
efforts which were related to its conversion to a profitable entity in the market. The
personality of the CEO of Ryanair has been quite controversial in nature which is related to
the various wrong steps that have taken by him in the course of the operations of Ryanair in
the industry (Arnold et al. 2015). The major issue was faced by the company in the year 2016
which was due to the cancellation of flights. This main reason behind this has been the lack
of enough workforce due to huge number of leaves taken by the pilots. The leadership of
Michael O’Leary can be analysed based on different theories to understand the ways by
which the company has been managed by him.
Analysis of leadership based on Trait theory
This theory mainly assumes that the leadership characteristics and the abilities of the
leaders are inherited. This assumption proves to be true for the leadership style that has been
followed by Michael O’ Leary. The family to which the leader of Ryanair belongs has been
showing effective qualities of leadership. Timothy O’Leary, father of Michael O’Leary is the
major reason behind the leadership traits shown by Michael O’Leary. Michael’s father was a
businessman and had successfully set up his businesses in various industries (Bellamy and
Bellamy 2016). Timothy was a type of leader who considered himself to be the best and most
knowledgeable about the processes that take place in the organization. Michael was able to
transform Ryanair to a successful company within a short period of time. He had a strong
drive related to the responsibilities that he had regarding the organizational processes.
Michael had driven the profitable growth of Ryanair by increasing the standards of the fleet
that was managed by the company. The leader was focussed on completing the tasks that are
related to the growth of the revenues of the company (Buble, Juras and Matić 2014). Michael
however did not possess the trait which deals with integrity and honesty. The training that is
provided to the pilots of Ryanair are not done by the company and it is based on an agency
which completes their training related to the different processes. The company also had to

5ANALYSIS OF LEADERSHIP IN RYANAIR AIRLINES
face criticism due to the policy which led to deliberate high turnover of the staff. The trait
theory is not enough to analyse the traits that have been depicted by Michael O’Leary as the
CEO of Ryanair Airlines. The issue that was faced by the company in the year 2016 will be
thereby discussed based on the other relevant theories of leadership (Calder 2018).
Analysis of Transactional leadership
Michael O’Leary has been identified as a transactional leader due to the reward
policies that are followed by him to manage the employees and further improve their
performance as well. The payment that is provided to the employees are based on their
performance. The cabin crew of the airlines also receive commission for selling goods within
the flights. The staff also owns 130 million shares within the organization and incentives are
provided for increased productivity. The compensation that is provided to the flight
attendants comprises of the salary and the incentives provided for the efficiency that they
show in their performance in the organization (Choi, Kim and Kang 2017). The management
has also been trying to improve the rosters of the employees so that their productivity can be
maximised and they can also be provided with the maximum time off from work. Ryanair
expects its employees to perform in a better way in return of the incentives and the rewards
that are provided by the company. The transactional style of leadership is suitable when the
organization operates in a stable environment. Ryanair has however been able to maintain its
topmost position in the market in the environment of economic slowdown that has taken
place in Europe. The increase in the prices of fuel has also not been able to decrease the
profits that has been gained by the organization in the market. The control over the various
organizational processes that has been shown by Michael is related to the traits of a
transactional leader (Davies 2018).

6ANALYSIS OF LEADERSHIP IN RYANAIR AIRLINES
Analysis of Transformational leadership
The CEO of Ryanair Airlines also possesses some of the major characteristics that are
related to transformational leadership. The company did not have a clear vision regarding
their performance and in spite of this the organization has claimed the second position in the
airlines industry within a short period of time. The organization continues to innovate its
processes and bring changes in the front and the back ends of the business. The organization
has taken many creative initiatives to attract the publicity in the media and increase its
awareness among people. Michael has been able to build effective and efficient teams and he
is the major reason behind the huge success of Ryanair in the industry (DuBois et al. 2015).
The leader has also introduced low cost model of business to sustain the operations if Ryanair
in a profitable manner. The air transport industry of Europe has been transformed completely
by Michael in a single-handed manner. Michael however lacks the abilities that are required
for qualifying as a charismatic leader. The CEO of Ryanair airlines has however not been
able to satisfy the needs of the employees in a sensitive manner. The issues that have
occurred in the organization based on the payment of their uniform, meals and training
related activities (Graham 2018). The leader has also depicted insensitiveness to the external
environment in which the organization has its operations. Michael also has a negative
reputation regarding the ways by which the management interacts with the suppliers and the
customers. Michael has thereby depicted the ability of an effective leader due to the various
traits that have been identified in his leadership style. The unique style of leadership that has
been depicted by Michael is based on two major styles which include, transformational and
transactional leadership (Green 2018). The aggressive style of leadership that has been shown
by Michael has proved to be effective for the operations of Ryanair airlines. The
effectiveness of his leadership style is related to the huge growth that is shown by the
company within a short span of time.

7ANALYSIS OF LEADERSHIP IN RYANAIR AIRLINES
Relation of leadership with the issue that has occurred
The organization has however faced many issues which were related to the lack of
effective leadership by the CEO Michael O’Leary. Ryanair Airlines has been able to gain the
topmost position in the market with the help of the huge growth that has been shown within a
short span of time. The company started facing issues based on staffing and financial health
from the year 2016. The low-cost airlines service had attracted a huge customer base for the
company and further pressure was created due to the increasing demands of the consumers
(Kang, Solomon and Choi 2015). The financial health of the organization and staffing related
issues have proved to cause huge difficulties for Ryanair Airlines. The lack of enough
employees for the purpose of providing the appropriate services to customers was a major
issue that was faced by Ryanair Airlines. The other issues in the company include, the
leakage of documents, regulations related to aviation industry. The two major reasons behind
the issue of cancelled flights of Ryanair Airlines are limitations based on flight time and
annual holidays. The increase that is experienced in the demands of the customers were based
on the troughs and the peaks (Keskes 2014). The demands are found to increase at the time of
Easter and the beginning of September. The airlines are able to make the most amount of
profits during the peak time. The formation of rosters by the members of the management is
the major factor that enables to deal with the situation of the lack of employees. The
allocation of holidays to the pilots has always proven to be a tricky issue at the demands
increase between the peak time of Easter to the end of August. The pilots are thereby
encouraged to take the maximum number of leaves between the time period of September to
March (McCleskey 2014). The FTLs or the Flight Time Limitations further add to this issue
related to the successful allocation of hours of work to the pilots. The complexities that were
related to the working hours of the pilots have been the major reason behind the issue that led
to the mass cancellation of the flights. The new rules that were implemented by the Irish

8ANALYSIS OF LEADERSHIP IN RYANAIR AIRLINES
Aviation Authority related to the usage of calendar year for the leave allocations had caused
huge complications in the entire process. The management was unable to integrate the laws
with the systems of the organization in an effective manner (Mittal 2015).
The managers were unable to allot the leaves to the pilots according to the
requirements during the months of July and August. The airlines were in fact having a surplus
of pilots during this period of time. The changes in the policies of the airlines were
implemented after the regulation was formed by the government. The pilots were however
not willing to work according to the changed leave schedules of the airlines. The anger that
was created among the pilots further led them to take bulk leaves at the same time. The
airlines did not have the enough workforce for the purpose of continuing its operations in the
month of September 2016. Ryanair airlines has been famous in the market for the low cost
services that it provides to the consumers (Monzani, Ripoll and Peiró 2015). The company
operated around 2200 flights in a day. The lack of staff thereby led to the huge cancellation of
flights of Ryanair airlines. The failure that was faced in the operations of the company due to
their inability to operate the adequate number of flights further led to different types of
rumours in the industry. The company started losing its reputation and the rumours were
spread related to the deteriorating financial health (Saeed net al. 2014).
Ryanair Airlines had to however face massive issues due to the cancellations of the
various flights from the month of September till about the end of October in the year 2016.
The employees are biggest assets of various organizations irrespective of the industries to
which they belong. The work culture and the leadership of company is responsible for
maintaining the satisfaction levels of the employees. Ryanair is considered as a low-cost
airline which was established by the Ryan family. The organization was not able to earn
profits in its initial five years of operations. However, the airlines saw huge growth in profits
after the appointment of Michael O’Leary as the CEO of Ryanair (Sethuraman and Suresh

9ANALYSIS OF LEADERSHIP IN RYANAIR AIRLINES
2014). The change in leadership of the organization affected the profitability and revenues in
a positive manner. The culture of the organization was mainly based on the vision which was
related to the low-cost services provided to the customers. The CEO applied many cost-
cutting initiatives so that the environment of the company reflects the culture and the strategy
that is followed by them. The staff of the organization had to face many cost-cutting related
steps that have been taken by Michael. The culture of Ryanair and the leadership of Michael
O’Leary affected the stakeholders of the organization (Williams 2017). The major
stakeholders were considered to be the customers and the employees. The customers were not
provided with any value added benefits and the employees were also not provided with
benefits like, uniform, health and others.
The culture of the organization was developed by Michael O’Leary in an effective
manner. Michael had proved to be successful leader which is related to the huge
improvement that has been seen in the profitability of Ryanair Airlines within a short span of
time. The leader has a hard headed attitude towards the services provided to the customers.
The company is known in the industry for providing the lowest fares to the consumers. The
leader is however known in the airlines industry for his negative attitude towards the
consumers. The leader believes in providing the customers with whatever they want (Yahaya
and Ebrahim 2016). The company has never given much importance to the complaints that
were raised by consumers regarding the services that were provided to them. The view of the
management towards the customers has been that they have no right to complain as they are
being provided with the lowest prices. The leader also believed in talking to the point with
the employees and the stakeholders. The cost-cutting related initiatives that have been taken
by the management have been helpful for the successful operations of the company (Zhang,
Cao and Wang 2018). Michael did not believe in the concept of bad publicity and he did not
care about the various rumours that flow in the market regarding the operations of the

10ANALYSIS OF LEADERSHIP IN RYANAIR AIRLINES
organizations. The leader has been defying the laws related to the concept of good leadership.
However, he has been successful in increasing the profitability of the organization in an
effective manner.
The airlines had to face a major issue in the year 2016 due to lack of effective
management of the leave allocation related activities of the pilots. The organization had to
face mass cancellations due to the shortage of workforce in the months of September to
October 2016. The collaboration of the employees and the management has not been
adequate in Ryanair Airlines. This has led to the wrong allocation of leaves to the various
pilots, which had led to huge losses of revenues and reputation of the company (Zhang, Cao
and Wang 2018). The pilots had taken their due leaves of the year together and this has
further led to the huge shortage of the employees and flights were cancelled. The pilots were
then offered bonus of about 12000 Euros to the pilots to bring them back to duty. However,
they had rejected the amount and refused to return to work as well. The relationship of the
leader and the employees has not been effective in nature which has been the major reason
behind the issue that had been faced by Ryanair Airlines. The organization was able to
continue its profitable operations due to the low prices that it offered to the customers
(Williams 2017). However, the cost-cutting initiatives taken by the airlines were not accepted
by the employees in a positive manner. The work culture of Ryanair had been hugely blamed
due to the loss of the employees at the same point of time. The airline industry was
responsible to tackle the issues that are occurring with the employees and ways by which the
revenues of the organization are affected. The scheduling related activities of the organization
need to be improved and the management needs to change its ways of operating with the
employees (Ryanair.com. 2018). The perfect management of time slots of the employees can
be helpful and beneficial not only to the organization, it will also benefit the employees. The
leader further needs to collaborate with the employees and understand their needs to

11ANALYSIS OF LEADERSHIP IN RYANAIR AIRLINES
formulate the appropriate strategies that are related to their schedules of work. This will be
helpful in the effective management of the employees and their working times (Yahaya and
Ebrahim 2016).
Conclusion
The report can be concluded by stating that the issue that was faced by Ryanair
Airlines in the case study is related to the lack of proper management of the leaves that are
allocated to the pilots. The leader of the company has been able to take Ryanair Airlines to an
all new level of excellence. However, the style of leadership followed by Michael did not
help in building strong relationships with the customers and the employees as well. The
various steps taken by Michael related to the cost-cutting based initiatives of the company
were not liked by the employees. This had led to many issues which were faced by the
operations of Ryanair Airlines in the industry. The company also had to face huge criticisms
for the massive cancellation of flights due to the shortage of enough pilots in the workforce.
The blame of this issue was taken entirely by the management of the organization.

12ANALYSIS OF LEADERSHIP IN RYANAIR AIRLINES
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