Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary apologized Friday for bizarrely comparing rival European airlines that charge high prices to “rapists” during a press conference last week.
The notoriously outspoken head of the Irish budget airline said he was “truly sorry” for causing “considerable upset and offense to a wide number of people.”
During a presser last week in Dublin, O’Leary compared Ryanair’s competitors to sex offenders for raising airfares.
“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 [British Airways] and others desperate to get to Ryanair’s low fares because they can’t afford to fly with the high-fare rapists around Europe,” he said.
When reporters questioned whether O’Leary was trivializing rape, he doubled down, saying, “That’s what I call high-fare airlines like Lufthansa, BA and others,” according to the Mirror.
But on Friday, O’Leary said he had realized an apology was necessary after discussing the matter with family members and friends over the past 10 days.
“I was quizzed by the press if I was trivializing rape. I replied by asserting my firm belief that rape is a heinous and terrible crime which cannot be trivialized. I believe I couldn’t have been clearer in this regard,” O’Leary said in an apology video posted by Virgin Media News.
“I’ve come to realize, however, that the word I used so carelessly has caused considerable upset and offense to a wide number of people, especially victims and survivors. I want to apologize, sincerely and unreservedly, to those people, especially to the survivors.
“I am truly sorry for the offense and upset I’ve caused you … It won’t happen again. I will try to learn from this mistake and do better in the future.”
O’Leary – the Irish-born billionaire who became CEO of Ryanair in 1994 – has found himself under the spotlight before, recently sparring with Elon Musk on social media.
The airline boss said earlier this year he would not install WiFi equipment from Musk’s satellite business Starlink over concerns the added weight could drive the company’s fuel costs higher.
Musk posted on his social-media platform X that O’Leary was “misinformed,” after which O’Leary told an Irish radio station, “I would pay no attention whatsoever to Elon Musk, he’s an idiot.”
The fight heated up, with Musk calling O’Leary an “utter idiot” and “imbecile.”
Ryanair responded by launching a “Great idiot seat sale,” urging customers to “Buy now before Musk gets one!!!”
During his chaotic tirade last week, O’Leary disputed a passenger’s claim of being partially sucked out of a window during a flight with the airline.
Serbian national Ljubisa Karović, 61, has claimed that his wife and fellow passengers desperately held onto him after a window shattered during a July 10 flight from Greece to Germany and his head and right shoulder were pulled partially outside.
He reportedly suffered neck and shoulder injuries, and has accused Ryanair’s crewmembers of neglecting to come to his aid, according to his lawyer.
O’Leary said the passenger was “certainly sucked towards the window, but he didn’t get out the window,” adding he was “belted into his seat.”
The CEO said he was not trying to “downplay” the ordeal, but added: “We will be certainly at the end of the process disputing that he or any part of his anatomy will bend out the window.”
He admitted the passenger was entitled to “some compensation,” but not the “millions” that his legal team has demanded.