Jag kommenterar andras inlägg. Klicka på länken ovan för att läsa orginalinlägget Mattias

Det här är riktigt bra skrivet – och läsvärt – om Ryan Air. Stephan är insatt i resebranschen och en van resenär.

Det jag tycker Ryan gör så bra är att de har verkligen hållit sig vid sin affärsidé, dvs att tillhandahålal en enkel resa till ett enkelt pris.

Man får vad man betalar för, och skall man bara resa mellan två destinationer utan att bry sig om resan (som en bussresa med SL till exempel) så är det klockrent.

Sedan att det kan bli problem om man vill boka om, eller om det är strul med flighten, det är en annan sak. Återigen, man får vad man betalar för.

Stephans blogg är läsvärd, och jag rekommenderar minst ett besök hos honom: http://ekbergh.blogspot.com/

/Mattias

If you are a business scholar or aviation aficionado then flying with RyanAir is like going to Mecca if you are a true Muslim. Don’t get me wrong, I love flying business class, I love to be pampered and to be recognized. I get off when service people suck up to me and make me feel like I’m the only customer in the world. But I love well built businesses and well thought through concepts with no slack organisations where each process makes out it own mini universe.

RyanAir has perfected low cost flying beyond belief and they outperform any airline in the world. If RyanAir were an automobile maker it would be called Toyota. I am full of awe and reverence for their operations and whatever negative I have said in the past I must take back. Whatever positive I have said in the past was also wrong, they are way better. My whole picture of RyanAir has completely changed. Ryan is a tour de force, a tornado, in aviation, in service, in e-commerce in process and yield management. Ryan is for aviation what Wal Mart is to retail and what IKEA is to the home interiors.

I flew with RyanAir from Skavsta (Stockholm) to Rome last week. They live and breathe and eat their religion of efficiency and reinforce through every little detail their corporate culture of Kai Zen (continuous improvement). RyanAir are the global masters at their game and I don’t see one single airline competing with them.

Here are some things I especially noticed that’s worth mentioning that follows my previous posts about “What we learn from RyanAir 1,2,3,4,5”

Building the expectation.

In everything you sell you communicate some type of expectation. RyanAir sells us the expectation of a quick trip stripped of anything more than getting you there (on time). No bells no whistles but with restrictions such as: “if you don’t abide with our (Ryan’s) rules you will be fined”. So when you buy a ticket through their website you make damn sure you get everything right. I buy tickets online all the time from all kind of vendors. I have never been so careful in my life as buying this trip. My expectation is simply this; I need to get the information right otherwise I´ m screwed. There will be no hustle at airport and no negotiation whatsoever.
Everything is about the expectation you set for your customer. Network airlines also have strict defined rules on everything but the practices have become diluted. That’s why people are irritated because rules are negotiated and constantly bent by the customers.

Network airlines also haven’t understood the concept of over promise and under deliver. RyanAir does the exact opposite they over deliver because as a passenger you are prepared for the worst all the time.

Regarding secondary airports

RyanAir should receive the travel equivalent of the Nobel price, if there was any for using secondary airports. You park and walk five minutes. Parking costs a fraction of what it would a Heathrow, Arlanda, CDG or FRA. Check in is superfast. Immigration quick and flawless, security is swift. I think everyone agrees that the actual effective flying time is not the problem nowadays it’s the hassle of parking at mega airports the 2 hours before departure check in. The endless lines at security. Miles to walk to your gates and on and on. The 30 minutes wait for your luggage upon arrival. A one-hour flight turns into a 4-hour nightmare. Using secondary airports strips this experience into half that.

Regarding check in

Checking in with Ryan is transient, since most of the job is done by you online, prior to departure. So all you have to do is drop your luggage. This speeds up the event and gets you through quickly. Ryan Air has understood that no one loves to stand in lines. Compare this to checking in when flying economy class at any major airport in any major city.
People also arrive on time because we know that arriving too late will forfeit our chance to our seat.

Regarding luggage

RyanAir passengers are well prepared because they know that if you have more than 15 kilo in you bag you WILL pay. Me and my wife we had 13.7 and 14.2 kilo respectively. I never weigh my bag on my trips but this time we weighed them twice and repacked twice. That way we also didn’t bring stuff we didn’t need. In this respect Ryan has become a true green company. We saved the environment because we didn’t have any excess luggage saving carbon emissions from a lighter plane. We didn’t waste our planets resources by buying a whole bunch of stuff that we didn’t need on destination. I loved it. We had our experience, who can ask for more.

You are allowed to bring 10k´s of hand luggage and people know the size of the hand luggage because it is printed on your boarding pass, that you print at home. Just for a second compare this to all those idiots that bring their whole wardrobe onboard and refuse to check it in. They abuse the rules and the airlines allow them because they don’t set the standards, thus giving everyone who follows the rules a terrible experience and no place to put their hand luggage.

Network carriers are great for obnoxious passengers who elbow their ways in the plane, but terrible for most law abiding passengers. RyanAir is air communism at its best. It’s raw, it’s equal, and honest. You simply get what you pay for. Which is not always the case with network carriers.

Regarding staff and service

The crew that are based at Ryan’s different hubs lives on their own expense in dwellings they have to fix themselves. They come from all over Europe, mainly the Eastern part. They often share apartments and follow each other’s schedule. This creates an extraordinary bond between the team members. I find the RyanAir staff very motivated in everything they do. Great team spirit and capable in all aspects of the service. They smile as they charge you for everything, which is the first rule in service, charge with a smile. They even got me to pay 3€ for a cup of warm water (since I always bring my own tea). And I didn’t mind. Again my expectation was that everything costs on RyanAir. The Steward said he was so sorry to charge me, but I couldn’t care less. I knew the rules.

The staff gets paid and are taxed in Ireland. I don’t know what the local tax authorities think about that. This is probably one more of Ryan’s way of breaking the rules.

Regarding getting your luggage

Flying from and to secondary airports you never have to worry of your luggage getting lost. We received our luggage in 5 and 7 minutes respectively. I fly all the time and it is not uncommon to have to wait 30 minutes for luggage after you have walked 15 minutes to get to the conveyor belt from the aircraft. If you count effective time parking, checking in, security, passport control, arrival and luggage I think it is safe to say you will save 50% of your time flying with RyanAir.

Communications

RyanAir are masters of communications. People believe what you tell them if you tell them the same story often enough. Ryan is meticulous in telling the story of being the on-time airline. After you touch down the PA system plays a fanfare telling you that they are again on time. Well in our case we were 15 minutes late. I didn’t care but told the captain that they were in fact NOT on time. He just shrugged his shoulder. And why should he care. The important thing is that Ryan controls their information. They don’t need a PR agency coming up with a story because Ryan lives and communicates the story 24 hours a day.

Build the brand

RyanAir´s brand and name is communicated everywhere all the time in-flight. They understand a captive audience. No one can miss their screaming yellow colours and whenever they make an announcement they always mention RyanAir at least once. Their logos are everywhere on the walls, the chairs etc. Compare that to most airlines. When flying with Ryan you are Ryan blitzed

But what is the secret?

I think we can study Ryan and marvel at their attention to details but at the end it will be impossible to get the same results. I once read that the secret behind a true comedian genius is not to worry about looking good. They put the sketch first and don’t give anything about their self-image. So much in aviation is about image, prestige, power and sexiness. Ryan is completely free from such nonsense. Flying people at lowest possible fare and still make money is their agenda. Ryan lacks the usual craving for prestige and I believe this is their true secret sauce.

The future

I almost feel sorry for most airlines, especially SAS and BA, when trying to compete with RyanAir. They do everything wrong thus playing customers in the hands of Ryan who’s become like HAL, the computer in the movie 2001, self adaptive and outsmart everything in its way.
In the past we have experienced network carriers stripping their service to nothing. We have seen start up low cost subsidiaries from the networks, in a pathetic attempt to play catch up. These are all vain projects from business leaders detached from their mission.

RyanAir is not about peanuts or no peanuts. RyanAir is about redefining a business, its about winning, excellence and culture. Any business will do well in truly studying RyanAir who are the bona fide masters of the universe in aviation.