Jaunted

Although it carried 1.4 million passengers in the British market during September, compared with BA’s 1.6 million, the flag carrier is reducing the number of flights that it offers this winter while Ryanair is forecasting that it will continue to grow. Michael O’Leary, chief executive of Ryanair, said that this would allow his company to overtake BA as Britain’s biggest carrier. 'It is hard to know when it will happen because it is hard to keep up with how fast BA’s passenger numbers are declining,' Mr O’Leary said. 'We will overtake them at some point — and I am not talking about months [when] they have a strike.'

The really obnoxious part is that O'Leary's more or less right. British Airways is in financial free fall, above and beyond the trouble they're in for price fixing and the company-busting strike they're facing. The only kind of sort of bright spot is that Ryanair is halting their expansion, though that has as much to do with long-term goals and profits as with anything else.

It's not just the recession either. Ryanair has been trending upwards almost since Day 1, proving that people will happily give up their dignity if they think they can save a few dollars (even when they're wrong). At least other airlines aren't taking notice and adjusting their treatment of customers accordingly. Think how depressing that would be.

[Photo: Vmenkov / Wiki Commons]

Related Stories:
· We will soon be Britain’s No 1 airline, boasts Ryanair [Times Online]
· Ryanair Coverage [Jaunted]
· British Airways Coverage [Jaunted]