Ryanair

Before I arrived in Europe, many people told me about a low-cost airline named Ryanair.  They said it is most similar to Southwest in the States.  When I planned my trip to Madrid and Barcelona, I booked with Ryanair, and for my three flights, it cost me 60 € which a very good deal compared to other airlines and trains.  Our flight from Madrid to Barcelona was 6 €.  Their business model is pretty interesting and discussed often in classes at WHU.  They generate their revenue by charging passengers for extra services such as baggage, priority boarding, etc.  This allows passengers who do not want these extra services to travel for the lowest possible price.  They save costs on their aircrafts by having non-reclining synthetic leather seats, no seat-back pockets, safety cards on the back of the seats and life jackets stowed overhead rather than under the seats.   In the past, they have received heavy criticism for its poor treatment of disabled passengers.  For example, in 2002, it refused to provide wheelchairs for disabled passengers at London Stansted Airport.  With all this information, I was excited to experience Ryanair first hand.  When we checked in the people were extremely nice, which was shocking considering the background of the company.  When boarding the plane, they do not call out seat numbers; instead, everyone waits in line.  You can sit wherever you want on the plane.  The flight attendants tell people to hurry up so they can take off on time.  If the plane lands on time, they play a song and say last year over 90% of Ryanair flights arrived on time.  In order to increase this percentage, they overestimate the time it actually takes to fly the distance.  Surprisingly with all this, my experience was positive because it allowed me to see an entirely new culture for reasonably priced airfare.