Ryanair has not always been as successful as it is today. When the company entered the market in 1985 its original aim was to provide low-cost flights between Ireland and London as an alternative to British Airways and Aer Lingus. However, economies of scale are vital when attempting to reduce costs and offer low prices. Ryanair, with its small fleet of old-fashioned, second-hand airplanes, could not match its larger competitors and ended up with a IR£20m loss after its first six years of operation. In 1991 Ryanair decided to rework its strategy: • it switched to flying only one type of airplane allowing savings through standardisation of parts, maintenance and servicing; • it switched to using smaller, ‘second-rank’ airports (such as Luton, Stansted, Prestwick etc.) which cut down on landing fees, parking fees etc., • the absence of in-flight meals means turnaround time on the ground is minimised which helps reduce airport fees and charges; • it cut out all “frills” such as in-flight meals and up-market lounges and has developed a low-cost online booking service; The company strategy is clear – lowest fares; safe flights; on-time flights. Nothing more – no hotel vouchers, no meal vouchers and the minimum acceptable customer service. (Source: Operations Management, 4th edn., Slack et al., pp65) i dont understand this below one aswell 2.3 – Identify the strategic importance of operations management in the decision-making process a) Discuss how important the “operations element” was to the success of Ryanair’s strategic decision. b) To what extent are “operations” always involved in Strategic Decisions? Provide some examples in your answer.