“Von der Leyen is very good at giving speeches, but he is useless in promoting competitiveness in Europe”
Michael O’Leary does not hesitate. Aim and shoot. It seems that without giving much thought to the matter, although, it seems, he has thought long and hard about what he is going to say before going out in front of the microphones. This time the target of their criticism has been Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, for the air traffic control (ATC) service. “Useless”. Or “useless”, in Spanish. This is what Michael O’Leary called Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, in an event before the media where he criticized the delays that are occurring and air traffic charges (ATC). The insult is just the latest in a long list of grievances that Michael O’Leary has dedicated to politicians of all political stripes throughout the world. In Spain we have the attack against Pablo Bustinduy, Minister of Consumer Affairs, whom he called a “clown”. The European Parliament has defined it as “a club of charlatan idiots” and Donald Trump has been called a “liar”among other cases. What has happened? In his attack, Michael O’Leary had gone before the media to point out what, for his company, is cause for complaint: Europe does nothing about the increase in airport taxes, delays due to lack of controllers and the general increase in costs. In his statements, O’Leary stated the following: “It is time for ‘Useless’ Von der Leyen to stop talking about competitiveness and start doing something about it. For many years, European airlines have been calling for effective reform of Europe’s poor air traffic control (ATC) services. At a minimum, this requires the Commission to require European ATC providers to be fully staffed for the first wave of morning flights or face real and punishing fines. We have also called for the protection of overflights during national air traffic controller strikes. Despite these repeated requests, “Useless” Von der Leyen has done nothing. He is very good at giving speeches, but he is useless when it comes to carrying out real reforms or boosting competitiveness in Europe. What is all this about? What Ryanair assures is that flights are growing but, despite everything, they are still 5% below those registered before the Covid-19 crisis. And, even so, ATC delays (those due to air traffic management) have increased according to the company that points out Spain as the second country with the most delays for this reason (11% of all those registered in Europe). Ryanair complains that airlines are being punished twice. In its statement it points out that while operating costs and rates rise, the service is worse and more delays accumulate. And is it true? From Enaire, a public company dependent on the Ministry of Transportation that manages air traffic in the country, They questioned this story last year when they claim that ATC delays were reduced in the months of July and August despite the fact that the volume of flights had increased. According to the airline, delays will grow this summer 20% if the controller workforce was not increased. A similar position defend in the Independent Professional Union of Air Traffic Controllers (SPICA) who claim that since 2010, 116 fewer air traffic controllers have been working in Spain, which increases the pressure on employees and the risk of delays. One of the problems is that the training of an air traffic controller takes two years, so it is not a quickly replaceable position. Much more than a criticism. If Ryanair is putting a lot of emphasis on this problem, it is because it knows that a good part of its business is based on punctuality. The company demands that the European Commission force countries to have the greatest number of drivers available in the early and late afternoons, fetish time slots for the company. But, in addition, the margins between flights are so narrow for Ryanair that a small delay in a first flight leaves subsequent flights out of play throughout the day. One by one, the dominoes fall, the delays accumulate and the risk of having to refund customers’ money increases. Photo | Polish presidency of the Council of the EU 2025 and Stenbocki Maja In Xataka | The big secret of Ryanair’s success is that it doesn’t make money for flying: it does so by squeezing you out of everything else.
