Sue Me, Sumo!?

It seems that there’s a lot to look forward to already this year; a final farewell to the incumbent government, the world cup and who could forget the Stelios and O’Leary libel suit, which will see the budget airline heavyweights squaring up for a long sweaty slog over those ads depicting Stelios with a Pinocchio nose.

It would seem that Sir Stelios is pretty miffed at being called a liar, which in the circumstances is fair enough, and has instructed his lawyers to issue a writ which will be served next week! In a thinly disguised jibe at Stelios’s not so svelte physique, O’Leary suggested that he and Stelios settle matters out of court by staging a Sumo bout in Trafalgar Square. Now the idea of Stelios and Mike O’Leary naked, bar the traditional Sumo fighting mawashi, isn’t my favourite thought but it could provide some light hearted amusement - and for the first time ever my money would be on the fat bloke.

Joking aside the fact remains that if those two put half of the energy they waste on fighting each other into running their multi-million pound empires, then their customers might actually get something close to a decent service.

I have long opined about Mike O’Leary, the man who by his own admission only wants to invest in cheap fares and not customer service. Admirable? Only if you can deliver the goods. I know I’m not alone in my conviction that Ryanair and the likes are a false economy in the long run. All too often you end up paying the same price as BA and you still get treated like crap. I don’t mind paying cheap for cheap, but I object profusely for paying expensive for cheap.