Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary says change is in the air at world's meanest airline

'OUR product is crap ... I'm an a - hole ... We tell our customers to go to hell.' But just as Ryanair's reputation for service hits rock bottom, the boss insists change is in the air.

Michael O'Leary insists change is in the air.

FLAMBOYANT Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary is adamant he is not losing his edge.

'I'm not going soft. I don't see any sign of me going soft,' he insists.

But O'Leary is promising a softer side from his airline whose terrible reputation for customer service appears to have started hitting the bottom line - and promised what he calls a change in the "go to hell culture".

Last month Ryanair was voted by consumer group Which? as having the worst customer service in a survey of 100 of Britain's biggest brands.

Angry customers last week took to Twitter to tell the irrepressible Irish aviation boss personally what an "a***hole" they thought he was.

"I am an a***hole,' he admits. "But they still love me."

When I asked if Ryanair was in danger of becoming the 'Ratners of the Sky', in homage to ill-judged comments by businessman Gerald Ratner that led to the collapse of the family jewellery business, O'Leary rejected the comparison. Ratner infamously said one of his company's products were "crap".

Ryanair's core product is not, he insists. Far from it.

News_Image_File: Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary insists the airline's core product is solid but its customer service is not.

He also denied suggestions that Ryanair treats customers "like the enemy" and with "contempt" noting: "We can't force 81m people this year to fly with us."

But the airline boss with a colourful turn of phrase does accept the need for some cultural changes.

"We have an over-abrupt and over-robust delivery of certain policies," he says. "In the past we have said: 'That's the policy - go to hell'. That culture needs to evolve."

"We have made some mistakes and errors," he admits.

Nevertheless, O'Leary said he "reserves the right to be irresponsible occasionally".

Cynics were suggesting this conversion may have more to do with the fact that rival easyJet is resurgent.

So what will the new softer and caring face of Ryanair look like?

O'Leary says the airline is to introduce new family-friendly deals and discounts in a bid to win back passengers put off by its past mistakes and rotten reputation for customer service.

He also pledged not to penalise passengers harshly when they make a "genuine mistake" - such as forgetting boarding cards and being charged Pound70 to reprint them.

He said: 'We will roll out new products for families - particularly families in the summer. We'll be announcing our new family-friendly initiative in November.'

Business and group travellers will also be given discounts and incentives when booking and travelling together, such as allocated seating: "We are going to focus on things which are an irritant to business people." It will also be easier and cheaper to change tickets - among passengers' biggest bugbears.

The online booking system will be simplified to allow for the changes, he said.

"We can no longer run around and be the cheeky-chappy cheerful brand," he admits.

The change of heart follows a storm of criticism from passengers when O'Leary took to Twitter and spent an hour responding to 1,500 tweets from disgruntled passengers.

Add to that the outrage last month when Ryanair charged a man whose family had been killed in a house fire an extra Pound160 to change his flight home.

O'Leary took it on the chin and said it shouldn't have happened.

But he has in the past branded those who don't like paying for having their boarding cards printed out as "idiots" who should "bugger off".

News_Image_File: Ryanair infamously charged a passenger whose family had been killed in a house fire an extra Pound160 to change his flight home.

In a jibe designed to irritate protesters opposing airport expansion, O'Leary said he would like to see three new runways built in the London area - one each at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted: "It has the advantage of pi**ing off the Nimbys (Not In My Back Yard) at all three airports at the same time."

O'Leary said that in the early days of Ryanair, he considered himself a maverick Robin Hood figure but was now seen more like the Sheriff of Nottingham, a member of the Establishment.

O'Leary insists he will continue to run Ryanair for another decade: "I have four children under the age of eight. I have no desire to spend more time at home."

Such is his quick-fire repartee and whip-smart timing, O'Leary's performance - for that is what it is - puts many professional comedians to shame.

When it comes to publicity, O'Leary admitted that many of the wilder stories he brazenly dreams up are out-and-out stunts to engender cheap publicity without the need to buy costly adverts, noting: "Charging for toilets is the gift that keeps on giving."

And with that O'Leary left to help launch his latest classy venture - the 2014 Ryanair calendar starring scantily clad female airline staff. All for charity of course.