Who You Calling Stupid?

Issue Overview

Breaking news: United Airlines is stupid. Well, it’s stupid according to Michael O’Leary, anyway. But then again, it’s never a surprise when Ryanair’s cantankerous chief executive hurls an insult. On this occasion, O’Leary was commenting on United’s threat to abandon some of its Boeing 737 Max 10 orders out of frustration with Boeing. This is the last thing Ryanair would do right now, given a severe worldwide shortage of narrowbody aircraft.

The state of the narrowbody aircraft market was indeed a central theme during Ryanair’s calendar fourth-quarter earnings call. The quarter, incidentally, yielded an operating loss for the airline. But it was a small loss, just below break-even. More importantly, the airline posted another outstanding result for the full year, headlined by a 17% operating margin.