Why Ryanair Still Doesn’t Need to Be Loved


Skift Take

Kenny Jacobs has certainly helped soften some of the rougher edges during his time at Ryanair, but plenty of challenges still remain for the no-frills airline that's committed to high growth. How will the low-cost carrier go about navigating them after his departure?

When Chief Marketing Officer Kenny Jacobs helped launch Ryanair's customer service-focused Always Getting Better campaign back in 2014, he said he wanted to make the airline "as liked as we are useful." And while the Irish carrier isn't immune from criticism, some of the harder edges have undoubtedly smoothed out during his tenure. Jacobs won't, however, be around to take part in the next stage of Ryanair's evolution. He announced earlier this year that he is leaving to take time off over the summer before looking for a new challenge. Jacobs is departing on good terms — not always the case with Ryanair executives — and group CEO Michael O'Leary thanked him for championing "many of the successful customer service improvements we have launched in recent years." The company is certainly very different in lots of ways to the one Jacobs joined back in 2014. It's now an airline group with an appropriate structure after it decided to pursue a rare acquisition in the form of Aust