Ryanair's Michael O'Leary flies in the face of history But yesterday, with several shareholders complaining that poor customer service was hitting sales, and with the recent, unexpected profits warning - the first in nearly a decade - fresh in everyone's minds, he was on the back foot. Some are asking whether the buccaneering guerilla warfare tactics that served Mr O'Leary so well on his ascent are appropriate now he is running Europe's biggest airline. His promise to overhaul its website, set up a new team to respond to emails and stop fining customers whose carry-on baggage exceeds minimum sizes by a matter of millimetres is hardly a radical manifesto for change. As he admitted, "a lot of those customer services elements don't cost a lot of money." But they are the first signs of a new, customer-friendly strategy. Does this prove that the customer is always king and you can only get away with insulting your passengers for so long? The jury is still out on that point. With the company's share price down 4pc this month and passenger numbers down for the autumn, Mr O'Leary needs to be seen to be steering a different course. It could be that, with the economy on an upward trajectory and a bit more money in people's pockets, passengers are prepared to spend a little more for a higher standard of customer service. The days when rock-bottom fares were the only game in town could be coming to an end. But Mr O'Leary, who once observed that "Germans will crawl naked over broken glass to get low fares," will take some persuading.