Senior Management at Ryanair consists a group of diverse people, each involve with a section of their proficiency. Senior management includes Jim Callaghan, Michael Cawley, Captain Ray Conway, Caroline Green, Michael Hickey, Howard Millar, David O’Brien, Michael O’Leary, and Edward Wilson. “Jim Callaghan was appointed Company Secretary in June 2002 and has also served as Head of Regulatory Affairs of Ryanair since May 2000. Prior to joining Ryanair, Jim practiced as a competition lawyer for the Brussels office of Linklaters & Alliance.
Jim is a U. S. -trained lawyer and completed a dual degree in Law and Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. Michael Cawley was appointed Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer on January 1, 2003, having served as Chief Financial Officer and Commercial Director since February 1997. From 1993 to 1997, Michael served as Group Finance Director of Gowan Group Limited, one of Ireland’s largest private companies and the main distributor for Peugeot and Citri?? en automobiles in Ireland.
Captain Ray Conway was appointed as Chief Pilot in June 2002, having joined Ryanair in 1987. He has held a number of senior management positions within the Flight Operations Department over the last 17 years, including Fleet Captain of the BAC1-11 and Boeing 737-200 fleets. Ray was Head of Training between 1998 and June 2002. Prior to joining Ryanair, Ray served as an officer with the Irish Air Corps for 14 years where he was attached to the Training and Transport Squadron, which was responsible for the government jet.
Caroline Green was appointed Head of Customer Service in February 2003. Prior to this, Caroline served as Chief Executive Officer of Ryanair. com between November 1996 and January 2003. Before joining Ryanair, Caroline worked in senior positions at a number of airline computerized reservations system providers, including Sabre. Michael Hickey has served as Director of Engineering since January 2000. Michael has held a wide range of senior positions within the Ryanair engineering department since 1988 and was Deputy Director of Engineering between 1992 and January 2000.
Prior to joining Ryanair in 1988, Michael worked as an aircraft engineer with Fields Aircraft Services and McAlpine Aviation, working primarily on executive aircraft. Howard Millar was appointed Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officer on January 1, 2003, having served as Director of Finance of Ryanair since March 1993. Between April 1992 and March 1993 he served as Financial Controller of Ryanair. Howard was the Group Finance Manager for the Almarai Group, an international food processing company in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 1988 to 1992.
David O’Brien was appointed Director of Flight Operations and Ground Operations in December 2002; previously, he served as Director of Flight Operations of Ryanair from May 2002, having served as Director of U. K. Operations since April 1998. Prior to that, David served as Regional General Manager-Europe and CIS for Aer Rianta International. Between 1992 and 1996, David served as Director of Ground Operations and In-flight with Ryanair. Michael O’Leary has served as a director of Ryanair since November 1988 and was appointed Chief Executive Officer on January 1, 1994.
Edward Wilson was appointed Director of Personnel and In-flight in December 2002, prior to which he served as Head of Personnel since joining Ryanair in December 1997. Prior to joining Ryanair he served as Human Resources Manager for Gateway 2000 and held a number of other human resources related positions in the Irish financial services sector. ” (Ryanair Ltd, 2007) Top management at Ryanair each brings professional experiences in international and managerial skills into the company. They have diverse backgrounds, which brings different styles of management and unique skills for their position.
Ryanair has international operations and most of the top management has had other experiences and positions with other international corporations. There are no acquired companies at this time, so no executives of acquired companies are part of top management. Top management at Ryanair stays involved with the corporation, therefore they are responsible for the corporation’s performance over the past few years. There are no managers that have been in their current positions fewer than three years.
The newest top manager is Caroline Green who was appointed Head of Customer Service in February 2003. Most of Ryanair’s top executives have been with the company for several years and in generally it seems that Ryanair appoints many of the officers to their current positions are years of service to the company. This suggests that internal promotions are the most likely way of hiring top management. The top management team has established a systematic approach to strategic management, which is seen through its profits and growth of the company.
For a company to be successful top management needs to be involved in the strategic management process, success begins at the top and works though all levels of management and employees. The performance of Ryanair shows that top management interacts with lower level managers and the board of director quite well. It seems that the strategic decisions, such as purchasing new more environmentally friendly aircraft, are made ethically and in a socially responsible manner. The top management at Ryanair is sufficiently skilled to cope with likely future challenges, because of their diverse background, management skills, and proven adaptability.
