"Wal-Mart With Wings"

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HIGH ROLLERS

The next frontier for O'Leary is gaming. Ryanair recently added online gambling to its Web site, but O'Leary figures there's more money to be had by offering gaming on his planes once Ryanair launches inflight mobile-phone service next year. "We have no idea how big online gambling will be, but we think it will be significant," he says.

A willingness to take chances has transformed Ryanair from a near-bankrupt basket case back in the 1980s into Europe's most profitable airline. The turnaround came after O'Leary met Southwest founder Herbert D. Kelleher 15 years ago. Kelleher imparted his formula for success over dinner at a Dallas steak house: Fly one type of plane to secondary airports outside major cities. Keep costs low and planes in the air, with quick turnaround times. And forget perks such as frequent-flier miles. O'Leary followed Kelleher's advice, leading Kelleher to dub Ryanair "the best imitation of Southwest Airlines that I have seen."

Ryanair, though, has always been much more than just a Southwest lookalike. For starters, Ryanair sells more than 98% of its tickets online, cutting down on administration costs and travel agent commissions. JetBlue sells 78% of its seats over the Internet, and Southwest just 59%. Ryanair's fleet of Boeing (BA) 737-800s have long ago been stripped down to the bare essentials. Seats don't recline, the better to cram in more passengers. Window shades have been removed, so flight attendants don't have to spend time resetting them between flights. Seat-back pockets have been ditched--one less place for clutter to accumulate.

Clearly, Kelleher's own combative stance against the status quo has provided O'Leary with an effective role model. He once made headlines calling European Union commissioners "communist morons," while dismissing the British Airport Authority as "overcharging rapists." He has dressed as the Pope to promote flights to Rome and has driven a tank to rival easyJet Airline Co.'s headquarters. "We specialize in cheap publicity stunts," he says.

O'Leary is also the master of the surprise move. For years, he has slammed Irish rival Aer Lingus as a "rip-off merchant." But he has since stunned the industry by launching a hostile $1.9 billion bid for the long-haul carrier. Aer Lingus shareholders have until Dec. 4 to accept the offer. If O'Leary wins control of Aer Lingus, he vows to sharply cut costs.

American long-haul discounters aren't likely to go to the extremes Ryanair has gone to sell basic services, but they're paying more attention to Ryanair these days. "They're on the cutting edge," says Tad Hutcheson, vice-president for marketing at AirTran, which recently assigned two marketing staffers to spend a week flying on Ryanair. "Charging for Cokes or snacks, blankets or pillows--I'm not sure Americans are ready for that."

Capell is a senior writer in BusinessWeek's London bureau
With Dean Foust in Atlanta