Michael O'Leary did his best to appear sanguine when asked by his staff about last month's flotation of Aer Lingus, writes Dan Milmo.
With typical flippancy, he said: "We don't comment on the flotation of small regional airlines."
Shareholders in Ryanair will be less relaxed about today's audacious takeover bid for the Irish flag carrier.
The Irish government's statement that it will not sell its controlling stake in the airline reduces Ryanair's chances of succeeding - the competition authorities will surely take a hard look at it too - and it leaves questions over Mr O'Leary's judgment. Not only does he appear to have misread the Irish government's intentions on Aer Lingus - was it ever going to allow the creation of an Irish super airline? - but he also seems willing to turn Ryanair's business model on its head and embrace the high-cost world of long-haul aviation.
From food to in-flight entertainment and much longer turnaround times, long-haul operations are the antithesis of Ryanair's lean-and-mean way of doing business. At £1bn, Aer Lingus is a big chunk to swallow and fitting it into Ryanair's low-cost template would be a time-consuming process.
Perhaps the temptation of owning a unified Irish airline giant was too great to ignore, but Mr O'Leary looks more hubristic than opportunistic this morning.
