Ryanair CEO: It's an 'Appropriate Time for Caution’

Michael O'Leary says demand is strong, but after "30 years of pain in this industry," he is wary of predicting big profits for 2023.

Dear readers,

Ryanair Group CEO Michael O’Leary has made investors a fortune by being a contrarian, often expanding the airline when others are shrinking.

Now, he’s playing the role of cautious elder statesman. While discussing Ryanair Group’s 2023 fiscal year results on Monday,¹ he told analysts he’s not interested in echoing the “rosy predictions” some competitors have made for the rest of this year.

“The summer looks strong, but I want to stand aside from the irrational exuberance of all of our recent competitor commentary,” O’Leary said. “I think there will be challenges. We are seeing forward bookings and average airfares into the summer that are ahead of where they were last year. Whether that gets to the kind of 20 percent or 30 percent [increases] our competitors are talking about, I'm not sure. And I think now is an appropriate time for caution.”