{"id":238936,"date":"2026-07-16T09:06:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T09:06:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/michael-oleary-ryanair-von-der-leyen-is-great-at-giving-speeches-but-useless-at-enhancing-competitiveness-in-europe\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T09:06:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T09:06:04","slug":"michael-oleary-ryanair-von-der-leyen-is-great-at-giving-speeches-but-useless-at-enhancing-competitiveness-in-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/michael-oleary-ryanair-von-der-leyen-is-great-at-giving-speeches-but-useless-at-enhancing-competitiveness-in-europe\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael O’Leary, Ryanair: “Von der Leyen is Great at Giving Speeches, but Useless at Enhancing Competitiveness in Europe”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Michael O’Leary’s Bold Criticism of Ursula von der Leyen<\/h2>\n

Michael O’Leary, the outspoken CEO of Ryanair, has once again made headlines with his unfiltered remarks. This time, his target is Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, whom he labeled “useless” for her handling of air traffic control (ATC) services. O’Leary’s comments come in the context of ongoing frustrations regarding increasing airport taxes and notable delays in air travel.<\/p>\n

Context of the Comments<\/h3>\n

During a media event, O’Leary expressed his dissatisfaction with von der Leyen\u2019s performance, saying, “It is time for ‘Useless’ Von der Leyen to stop talking about competitiveness and start doing something about it.”<\/em> He urges European officials to overhaul the inadequate ATC services that hinder the airline’s operations, especially during peak travel times.<\/p>\n

Ryanair’s Business is Impacted<\/h2>\n

O’Leary pointed out that despite a general uptick in flights, Ryanair\u2019s capacity still lags 5% behind pre-pandemic levels. According to the airline, delays attributed to poor air traffic management have worsened, particularly in Spain, which accounts for 11% of ATC delays across Europe. This situation creates a double whammy for airlines: rising operational costs coupled with decreasing efficiency.<\/p>\n

Strain on Operational Efficiency<\/h3>\n

Ryanair asserts that low staffing levels exacerbate the delays and inefficiencies. They claim that as operating costs rise, the quality of service simultaneously declines. This vicious cycle not only frustrates airline staff but also threatens to erode customer satisfaction, an important factor for budget airlines that rely on punctuality.<\/p>\n

Counterarguments and Industry Response<\/h2>\n

In contrast, the air traffic management organization Enaire asserts that delays have actually reduced, contradicting O’Leary\u2019s claims. Meanwhile, the Independent Professional Union of Air Traffic Controllers (SPICA) highlights the critical shortage of controllers, implying that systemic issues persist that require serious attention.<\/p>\n

Impact on Passengers<\/h3>\n

With thousands of European passengers affected by these delays weekly, O’Leary emphasizes the urgency to address what he views as mismanagement at the European Commission level. He believes that unless action is taken, the ripple effect of delays will not only disrupt flight schedules but may also lead to financial repercussions for airlines that must compensate customers for cancellations and delays.<\/p>\n

Conclusion: A Call for Reforms<\/h2>\n

O’Leary’s criticism serves as a wake-up call for European policymakers. As Ryanair and other airlines struggle with high operating costs and inefficient services, the need for reform in ATC operations becomes increasingly urgent. Only with meaningful action can the potential for enhanced competitiveness in the European aviation market be realized.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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General News – 2<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michael O’Leary’s Bold Criticism of Ursula von der Leyen Michael O’Leary, the outspoken CEO of Ryanair, has once again made headlines with his unfiltered remarks. This time, his target is Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, whom he labeled “useless” for her handling of air traffic control (ATC) services. O’Leary’s comments […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":238937,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36399],"tags":[12758,7338,37038,1147,4808,126,10445,9232,55300,37217,39818,9554,10444],"class_list":["post-238936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-competitiveness","tag-der","tag-enhancing","tag-europe","tag-giving","tag-great","tag-leyen","tag-michael","tag-oleary","tag-ryanair","tag-speeches","tag-useless","tag-von"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238936"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":238938,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238936\/revisions\/238938"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}