Cmon down, we're dealing!

I would take this with ½Kg of salt. Ryanair has a reputation of B---sh-t advertising. They work on the principle of any publicity is good publicity, and have in the past made statements just to get headlines.
Anyway, 2020 is a long way off.

The European model for budget airlines would not work well for long haul flights. One of the ways they save money is running all of their timetables so planes and crew get back to base within the 8 hour limit. No expensive layovers for crew or planes in distant airports, and no "downtime". Everbody gets home, 2 x 8 hour shifts per day, and 8 hours overnight for maintenance. The crews never get off the aircraft, they are on the plane for the 8 hour shift until they return home!
This limits flights to 4 hours, any longer and they need a second crew to fly the plane back, hotel costs etc.. This is why it is difficult to apply their business model to intercontinental flights.

Most of the media was focusing on the $15 fare but Ryanair's finance people said to make money they would need to change their operating model and offer premium economy or even business class seating. The prices for these would still be lower than the competition.

Ryanair still needs to get aircraft and they are hardly known at all in the U.S. except for some who travel to Europe. They claim they have flown 89 million passengers last year but only "thousands" of Americans.

I'll bet they are also closely watching both Norwegian Air and Wow to see how they do on their transatlantic runs.

Air Canada has also started a low-cost carrier to some European destinations under the new Air Canada Rouge brand. It's very much a "no frills" model, and just about anything including entertainment is extra cost. That model might work well for short haul flights within Europe, but it's quite another matter to be stuck in an uncomfortable seat with no amenities for a 10 hour international flight.

I've never flown with Rouge but the passenger reviews have been so dismal, it's not likely that I will ever fly with them. I'd rather pay more and get a decent level of comfort for longer flights.

it's quite another matter to be stuck in an uncomfortable seat with no amenities for a 10 hour international flight

Good ol' Freddie Laker! And People's Express!

"...stuck in an uncomfortable seat with no amenities for a 10 hour international flight" That's not just Ryan Air. That's true for most airlines going most places.

Tim,

At least with the regular Air Canada flights, some amenities are provided with the cost of the ticket. Being able to distract myself with movies for a few hours does help. I'm going to try their Premium Economy this year to see how much better that is. Hopefully it's worth the considerable extra cost.

Ryanair have denied the story. See here: http://m.bbc.com/news/business-31975456

Ryanair said it "has not considered or approved any transatlantic project and does not intend to do so".

Just another bit of publicity b---s--t.

Chris beat me to it. I think he has earlier access to BBC. I think Ryanair just does this for the publicity. They claim these flights have been on the board for a number of years and, probably, will continue to be so for many years.

They're going to cry "wolf" one time too many.

Some of the other tactics that RyanAir have considered are.....

• charging € / £ 1 to use the WC in flight.
• having some passengers stand during flights and hold on to straps as on a bus (total rubbish as that would never be allowed for safety reasons).
• dispensing with co-pilots.
• and finally, one of the most laughable, flying passengers in the hold.

I find these ridiculous publicity stunts to be annoying and these are one of the reasons I won't use RyanAir unless there's absolutely no other option. There are also the issues of being "nickel & dimed" by their pricing schemes and having to use out-of-the-way airports in some cases. I'll continue using easyJet or other airlines such as Vueling whenever possible.

Amen Ken!