Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary is set to fade away from being the airline’s public face, as the brand seeks to remarket and restructure along more corporate lines following financial losses for the final quarter of 2013.

According to the Telegraph, Ryanair is aiming to tone down O’Leary’s role in the company’s publicity campaigns, as it announced losses totalling £28.8million for the last three months of 2013. The losses were ascribed to lower fares and damage to trade from the weakness of sterling against the euro. O’Leary said the budget airline’s average fares were 9% lower during the period, despite a 6% rise in passenger numbers from seat promotions and lower fares.

From attacking rival companies to dressing up in outrageous costumes, O’Leary has made himself synonymous with the airline brand since he became boss in 1994. But with the company falling behind easyJet – which has adapted to customer desires for good service – and cautioning investors in November that full-year profits were likely to decline for the first time in five years, Ryanair has been forced to change its tactics. Last month, the company underwent a series of management changes – most notably the recruitment of Kenny Jacobs who, as chief marketing officer, will replace O’Leary as Ryanair’s main spokesman.

Ryanair spokesman Robin Kiely confirmed: “Michael will step back. He will still do some rare media interviews, but he simply doesn’t need to be doing what he has been doing any more.”

While the impending departure of deputy chief executive and chief operating officer Michael Cawley is likely to peg O’Leary in his position for the foreseeable future, largely to maintain stability and investor confidence, rumours are bound to linger as to whether there are succession plans in place to cover his potential departure. However, Ryanair insists that O’Leary will still be as involved as ever with operations. “He’s not going anywhere,” said Kiely. “In terms of his position, he is still as involved as he ever was. You can see with the customer-service improvements and the changes to our policies and practices, he’s very much driving that.”

Despite the gloomy figures and management question marks, there’s light at the end of the tunnel for Ryanair: it still has the lowest cost base in the industry, allowing it to beat competitors on price, and its losses could potentially be countered by an improved performance in the spring and summer of this year. O’Leary’s prediction that within 12 months Ryanair could close the gap between itself and easyJet, in terms of how the two airlines are perceived, may suggest brighter times may lie ahead for the firm.

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Image of Ryanair planes courtesy of Rob Wilson / Shutterstock