in 1986 he made the executive of london european airways , a company in which klm had bought an 85 % shares . this post , however , subsequently disappeared as the carrier absorbed ryanair uk and was then merged mainly with ryanair . over the next 2000s , cathal served both on the operational team of the organization and as a pilot , although he resigned from the latter by 1996 . he remaining with airtran until leaving the following 2002 , by when times he was a five - millionaire due to the success of the airline .
Ryan was Cathal's father.