Irish low-cost carrier aims to soften image in tougher market competition

DUBLIN - Agence France-Presse

This file picture shows an Irish low-cost airline Ryanair plane parked on the tarmac of the Marseille-Provence airport in Marignane, France. Ryanair is seeking to improve its public image as it flies into tougher market competition. AFP photo

Exchanges with customers on Twitter and plans for a simplified website, Irish no-frills airline Ryanair is seeking to improve its public image as it flies into tougher market competition.

Ahead of the Dublin-based carrier’s latest quarterly earnings update, Ryanair has sought to soften its much-criticized public image of being a company that is lacking in good customer service.

Customers being hit by fines at the airport for failing to print off their tickets and for carrying too much weight in their luggage are among some of the biggest grievances, even if Ryanair’s policy is posted on its website. Ryanair recently simplified its online booking process, and will launch a new homepage later this month, after customers regularly complained about the confusing and long procedure.

The airline also said it would allow passengers to carry a second bag of hand luggage from December. Ryanair’s chief operating officer Michael Cawley has said that while changes are being introduced there will not be a shift from the basic principles that transformed Ryanair into one of the biggest carriers in Europe.

“There’s some changes announced and there will be more changes but we don’t want to throw out what’s good about Ryanair,” he told an aviation conference in Dublin last month.

“We need to be perhaps a little bit less vigorous in the implementation of (our policies). When we’re taking 70 euros ($95) from someone for a bag that doesn’t fit we should do it not with glee but with sympathy,” he added.