Ryanair’s head honcho, Michael O’Leary, has found himself in hot water after making an inflammatory remark about rival airlines earlier this month. While chatting with journalists, he referred to competitors like British Airways and Lufthansa as “high-fare rapists,” a term that quickly stirred outrage across the industry. O’Leary had initially claimed that passengers were “desperate to get to Ryanair’s low fares,” but his choice of words came under fire when a reporter from the Press Association questioned their appropriateness.
In a surprising turn of events, O’Leary took to social media to express his deep regret. “I want to apologise, sincerely and unreservedly, to those people, especially to the survivors,” he stated in a video posted on Friday. He acknowledged that his language was “careless” and promised it “won’t happen again.” This isn’t the first time O’Leary has faced backlash for his comments; he has previously called high-fare airlines “overcharging rapists” and “lazy bastards,” which only adds to the controversy surrounding his latest remarks.
The fallout from O’Leary’s comments was swift. Rachel Morrogh, the chief executive of the Domestic Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC), expressed her concerns in a letter to O’Leary, stating that many were “upset and distressed” by his words. She emphasized the need for sensitivity around such serious topics. In response, O’Leary maintained that he had not “trivialized the heinous crime of rape,” a claim that many found hard to swallow given the context of his comments.
As the dust settles, O’Leary’s slip-up raises questions about the standards of discourse in the airline industry. The public’s reaction has been one of disbelief and disappointment, as they wonder how someone in his position could make such a careless remark. With O’Leary vowing to do better, the industry is left to ponder: will this incident lead to a change in how airline executives communicate, or will it be business as usual?
Kaynak: Orijinal Haber