Ryanair, despite its recent promises to improve, remains the airline people love to hate. But, as Europe’s most profitable airline, it’s a model that seems to work.

In a brilliantly titled blog post at FlightFox, Grace McClure compares the highly successful Ryanair model with that of US carrier Southwest Airlines. Southwest also sells itself as a budget carrier, but has considerably greater costs and substantially lower profits. The slight tone of outrage that pervades the descriptions of Ryanair’s business model only serves to make this article all the more enjoyable.

It’s a highly recommended Weekend Read.