Michael O’Leary, the head of Ireland-based budget airline, Ryanair, has long had a reputation for saying what is on his mind, whoever it might offend, but his latest tirade, aimed at a complaining passenger, will have come as a shock even to those that are used to his straight talking.
The complaint concerned Ryanair’s policy of charging customers a penalty if they arrive for their flight without having taken a copy of their boarding pass. In the case of the complainant, Mrs Suzy Mcleod, that oversight amounted to a total cost of £236 for her, her parents and her two children, when Ryanair staff had to print boarding passes for the party in order that they could return to Britain from Alicante in Spain. Berkshire-based Mrs McLeod took exception to the charge as she claimed to have been unable to print the passes during the time her family had spent in Spain.
It was reported in the Daily Mail that Mr O’Leary’s response to her complaint was that passengers objecting to the penalty charges were, ‘idiots who should b—– off!’ He reportedly added that passengers who arrive for flights without a pass are ‘stupid’ and it is right they are charged £60 a time to have one printed at the check-in desk because it is their ‘—- up’.
Though O’Leary admitted that Mrs McLeod was not alone in complaining about the rule, he said that the 0.02 per cent of his passengers, which equates to 15,800 of 79 million, who do not print off passes every year should ‘b—– off’.
Mrs Mcleod, who has received massive support on Facebook for her stance, described Ryanair and its boss as ‘rude’.
