O’Leary will be judged on his handling of the crisis

Only time will tell if Ryanair gets over this current major dilemma, but its handling of the crisis may well be the defining moment for both Michael O’Leary and for Ryanair.

It’s not as if Mr O’Leary has not been in difficult places before. However, on this occasion, it’s hard to see how Ryanair did not see it coming or did nothing about it.

Ryanair has blamed staff holidays, weather and air traffic control as well as recent failures to meet its track record for on-time arrivals.