CEO of Ryanair Michael O’Leary has apologised for his use of the word ‘rapists’ in his description of competitor airlines and their prices.
Last week the chief of Europe’s largest low-cost airline came under fire for remarks he made about the prices other airlines charged, and he faced a heavy backlash after doubling-down on comparing rival airlines to ‘rapists’, defending his comments as ‘absolutely appropriate’.
O’Leary made the comments ahead of Ryanair’s annual general meeting in Dublin last Thursday morning, claiming that rising air travel prices would see passengers switch to his airline.
The billionaire businessman told reporters: ‘You might find some people will choose not to fly with Ryanair, but you know they’ll be overrun with the people abandoning Aer Lingus, Lufthansa, BA, and others desperate to get to Ryanair’s low fares because they can’t afford to fly with the high-fare rapists around Europe.’
After later repeating his ‘high-fare rapists’ remark, O’Leary was asked whether it was appropriate language, to which he replied: ‘Absolutely’.
The comments did not stop there, with O’Leary stating that he would ‘happily offend’ the airlines he mentioned after being asked if his wording was offensive to victims of rape and sexual assault.
The Ryanair boss was once again pressed about whether his comments were trivialising rape, to which he again replied: ‘That’s what I call high-fare airlines like Lufthansa, BA and others.’
O’Leary’s statements sparked significant backlash, with the Chief Executive of Dublin Rape Crisis Centre expressing that she was ‘dismayed’ upon hearing them.
Rachel Morrogh said: ‘These are lazy and uninformed comments. It feels like Mr O’Leary is chasing soundbites with no regard for how they may affect people.
‘Undoubtedly, the words of high-profile individuals can contribute to trivialising and tolerating sexual violence in our society.
This evening, Friday 18 September, the Ryanair boss seems to have had a change of heart and has apologised unreservedly to anyone he may have offended by his remarks.
Speaking exclusively to Virgin Media News, Michael O’Leary said ‘Last week at a press conference in Dublin, I used the term ‘rapist’ to describe the high fares of our competitor airlines. I was quizzed by the press, if i was trivialising rape. I replied by asserting my firm belief that rape is a heinous and terrible crime which cannot be trivialised. I believe I couldn’t have been clearer in this regard.
In conversations with family and friends, both inside and outside Ryanair, over the last ten days, I have come to realise however, that the word I used so carelessly, has caused considerable upset and offence to a wide number of people, especially to victims and survivors.
I want to apologise, sincerely and unreservedly, to those people, especially to the survivors. I am truly sorry for the offence and upset I’ve caused you, by my careless use of those words. It won’t happen again. I will try to learn from this mistake and do better in future. Thank you.’
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