A 4 page paper providing a SWOT analysis of Ryanair in early 2009, following its first financial losses since going public in 1997. Following CEO O'Leary's suggestion that the airline may charge for onboard toilet use, the paper recommends that the airline increase fares and drop all other nuisance charges, and monitor customer satisfaction levels in the future. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
Name of Research Paper File: CC6_KSairRyan.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
airline based in Ireland. It began operating according to the no-frills business model inspired by Southwest Airlines with the result that it has become one of Europes leading low-cost
airline carriers, but some believe it takes frugality too far. One of the early adopters of extra fees for virtually everything - thereby negating much of the benefit of
its lower fares - CEO Michael OLeary recently announced that Ryanair possibly would begin charging passengers a fee for access to the onboard toilet in the future (Ryanair mulls charge
for toilets, 2009). The companys public relations director downplayed that notion after OLearys announcement gained so much negative attention for the airline, but would not dismiss it entirely.
The purpose here is to assess Ryanairs position in its industry, and in so doing assessing whether actions such as the above have the
ability to negatively affect the airline longterm. SWOT Analysis Strengths * Strong operating strategy; * Strong fleet operations; and * Highly effective route network (Ryanair Holdings PLC, 2009). Weaknesses *
Declining profit margins; and * Inconsistent cash flows (Ryanair Holdings PLC, 2009). Opportunities * Apparent increase in growth within the British and European airline industries; and * Increase in European
online-mediated travel (Ryanair Holdings PLC, 2009). Threats * Slowdown in the economies of the UK, Europe and the world; * Increased numbers of fees and decreased services may alienate customers;
* Intense competition; and * "EU regulations on denied boarding compensation" (Ryanair Holdings PLC, 2009; p. 5). There are several areas that should
be included in competitor analysis. Basic analysis includes customers, marketing, product offerings, industry rivalry, general barriers to entry and exit (Porters Five Forces, n.d.). Porter (n.d.) has maintained