Ryanair boss blames his pilots over £22m ‘boo boo’
RYANAIR boss Michael O’Leary yesterday tried to pass off the cancellation of 2,100 flights as a “major boo boo”.
He admitted his handling of the crisis, which has affected more than 300,000 passengers, had made him look like a “clown”.
But he attacked his own pilots and threatened to solve the crew shortage by cancelling their holidays.
The crisis was triggered by changing the holiday rota which ran from April to March to one based on the calendar year.
Mistakes
The row, which Mr O’Leary admits will cost about £22million, coincided with rumours that Ryanair pilots are considering strike action, claims denied by the airline.
At the company’s annual general meeting in Dublin, Mr O’Leary said: “We make mistakes. This time we made a major boo boo.”
He admitted that staff claims on social media that he was “the clown” were an “appropriate” description.
But he threatened to take a week’s leave off about 1,000 pilots over the next two months and give it back to them next year. He said: “We will tell them, ‘We will make it up to you’. We will be reasonable. We don’t need their agreement.”
But one shareholder at the meeting told Mr O’Leary: “This is a complete cock-up. You should make a large donation to a Third World country and wear your sack cloths for a few weeks.”
Other shareholders raised concerns about the “reputational damage” the crisis has caused. Ryanair has been offering about £10,000 to pilots to work during their holidays but with little takeup. About 700 have quit the airline in the past year.
Mr O’Leary stirred up tensions by declaring: “I would challenge any pilot to explain how this is a difficult job or how it is they are overworked, or how anybody who by law can’t fly more than 18 hours a week could possibly be suffering from fatigue.”
He hinted he may be able to offer cash incentives but added: “We have some goodies to discuss but if pilots misbehave, that would be the end of the discussion.”
The pilots’ union Balpa tweeted: “Hard to believe he’s struggling to retain pilots.” Passengers stranded overseas have complained they cannot get through to the Ryanair hotline and are spending hundreds of pounds booking alternative flights.
The airline said it expects by the end of this week to have re-booked or refunded over 95 per cent of the 315,000 customers affected.