The best way to become a millionaire through airlines is to start as a billionaire

I used to joke Ryanair makes money by selling tickets, vapes and (soon) condoms.

TBH still kinda good airline for short flights. It's the clientele that makes it less palatable.

Didn’t the CEO of Ryanair say he was going to make tickets free at some point?

I mean the fare would be super basic, no luggage, only what can go under the seat. No water, food. Print your own ticket, etc.

Basically all your margin is on the extras which many people are willing to pay (as long as you’re upfront about it).

I remember flying Ryanair and if you’re prepared to follow directions, it can be very cheap.

I don't know if it's still true. Probably not. But at one point in the past 10 or 15 years I heard the (what seemed to me credible) claim that, taken as a whole, the commercial airline industry had never made money.

The worst sort of business is one that grows rapidly, requires significant capital to engender the growth, and then earns little or no money. Think airlines. Here a durable competitive advantage has proven elusive ever since the days of the Wright Brothers. Indeed, if a farsighted capitalist had been present at Kitty Hawk, he would have done his successors a huge favor by shooting Orville down.

-- Warren Buffett, in the 2007 Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter

COVID was easily the worst thing that has happened to the airline industry bar none. ICAO estimates that 2020 resulted in $371B in losses.