Jaunted

WSJ: How has the recession affected Ryanair, and how have you used it to your advantage?
Mr. O'Leary: We love recessions.

WSJ: Your costs are already low. Do you reach a point where it's hard to keep cutting?
Mr. O'Leary: ...Now we're looking at charging for toilets on board—not because we want revenue from toilet fees. We'd happily give the money away to some incontinent charity... Another one we're looking at is taking out the last 10 rows of seats and putting in handrails. In that case, you'd be able to offer on each flight, say, 125 seats. But you'd also have standing room for maybe another 100 passengers. And the proposition would be that if you want a seat, you pay €30 ($44). But if you're willing to stand, you pay €1.

Incontinence charities? HAND RAILS ON PLANES? O'Leary, you are as plain a talker as there ever was. But we think you drove the point home when you said this: "And that's what people really want—affordable, safe air transport from A to B. It's a commodity. It's not some life-changing sexual experience, which is what the other high-fare airlines have tried to convince you that it is."

Has this man had sensitivity training? If this is the stuff that flies out of his mouth during interviews with the Wall Street Journal, then—boy oh boy—what we'd give to be a fly on the wall in their brainstorming conference room. But then again, perhaps it's for the best that we can't eavesdrop on your insanity. We'll keep letting the WSJ do it for us.

Related Stories:
· O'Leary Pilots Ryanair Into Lead With 'Mad' Ideas for Cost Cuts [WSJ]
· It Can Be Done! We Booked A Ryanair Flight For Under $25 [Jaunted]
· Ryanair coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images]