Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O’Leary issued an apology earlier this week for comments he made earlier in the month describing competitor airlines as “high-fare rapists.” The remarks were made during a conversation with journalists ahead of Ryanair’s annual shareholder meeting. O’Leary had stated that some individuals were “desperate to get to Ryanair’s low fares because they can’t afford to fly with the high-fare rapists around Europe.”
When initially questioned about the appropriateness of his language, O’Leary defended the comments, suggesting he was simply criticizing the pricing practices of carriers such as British Airways and Lufthansa. He stated he would be “happily” offended those airlines “on a regular basis.” When pressed further about whether his words might offend sexual assault survivors, he acknowledged that rape was “a terrible crime” but declined to apologize.
The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre responded by sending a letter to O’Leary requesting an apology, with chief executive Rachel Morrogh stating the organization had received calls from rape survivors who were upset and distressed by the remarks. She offered training on the impact of sexual violence and urged him to reconsider. O’Leary initially responded that his comments had not trivialized rape and therefore he would not apologize or accept the training offer.
In a video statement released on Friday, O’Leary reversed course. He said that after conversations with family and friends over the preceding ten days, he had come to recognize that his word choice was “careless” and had “caused considerable upset and offence to a wide number of people, especially to victims and survivors.” He expressed sincere apologies to those affected and committed to learning from the mistake.
This incident was not O’Leary’s first controversial public statement. In 2004, he had characterized airport owners as “overcharging rapists” during a dispute over charges, and he has made other provocative remarks about staff and customers in previous years.
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