in 1986 he purchased the head of london european airways , a business in which klm had bought an 85 % stake . this position , however , quickly disappeared as the carrier became ryanair airlines and was then merged wholly with ryanair . over the next decade , cathal worked both on the executives side of the company and as a pilot , although he resigned from the latter by 1996 . he remained with ryanair until leaving the airline 2002 , by which time he was a multi - millionaire attributed to the success of the airline .
Ryan was Cathal's father.