People are grateful when you make a difference in their lives. That is the essence of any successful business

America has its roots in a tradition of risk-taking pioneers. In more conservative Europe, if you fail in business or actually end up going to jail for it, you're finished as a businessman for good.

I think that my original drive as an entrepreneur was precisely that desire to get away from the image of the shipping magnate's son.

I'm sure there are managers who have had far greater financial success. But my companies such as easyJet have changed the lives of many people. We haven't just made flights affordable for a lot of people.

Successes are always unique and hard to copy. The fact that easyJet became a success is due to a mixture of talent and luck.

Even if someone is competent, it's so damned easy to crucify him as long as he's only working on his father's account. So at the beginning I certainly wanted to prove myself to my father and the rest of society. That quickly turned into a greater challenge. My lifestyle hasn't changed as a result.

Passengers don't like changing planes. That means waiting time, stress, running around. There's a joke that the hub principle is supposed to have been invented by cargo firms. The baggage doesn't care where and how it's pushed around.

Failures teach you more, there's always something fundamental about them.

I have to manage and protect my brand. For the details I can always hire people who can knuckle down much better. For that I need people who are different to myself. People who compensate for my weaknesses.

All things start in California and spread to New Jersey, then to London and then throughout Europe.