Chairman of the airline company Ryanair: Who is Michael O'Leary?

Michael O'Leary, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ryanair, one of Europe's largest airline companies, was attacked with a cake by environmental activists in front of the European Union (EU) Commission in Brussels.

Michael O'Leary arrived in Brussels to present a petition on aviation practices in Europe, addressed to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Meanwhile, two environmental activists approached O'Leary, who was preparing to make a statement to some journalists in front of the EU Commission building.

Michael Kevin O'Leary (born 20 March 1961) is an Irish businessman who is the Group CEO of Ryanair. With a net worth of around €848.6 million as of April 2018, he is one of Ireland's wealthiest businessmen.

Activists glued cakes to O'Leary's face and back. One of the activists shouted, "Welcome to Belgium. Stop planes polluting the environment," and fled the scene.

"The cream they use is not real"

O'Leary, whose face was smeared with cream, said sarcastically, "I have never been welcomed so warmly. However, unfortunately, these people are environmentalists and the cream they use is artificial. I invite our passengers to Ireland, where the cream is better." After the incident, a message was shared on Ryanair's social media account with a photo of O'Leary's face smeared with cake.

More information

Ryanair uses Charleroi Airport in Belgium as one of its hubs and operates flights to many cities in Europe from here. But in recent months, Ryanair's operations in Brussels have come under the spotlight with strikes by pilots and other workers. Employees who want improvement in working conditions are preparing to organize a strike on September 14-15.

February 2020

Muslim men should be controlled more tightly

Michael O'Leary suggested that Muslim men are the source of the threat at airports and should be searched more closely.

In a statement to the Times, O'Leary criticized the current security policies at airports.

Noting that the controls for a family with children should be reduced, O'Leary said:

"Who is the bomber? These will be single men traveling on their own. If it is a family with children, let them pass by. The chance of him blowing them all up (family members) is zero. There are some things you can't say because that would be racist. But usually (the bomber) will be a man of the Muslim faith. Thirty years He was Irish first. If that's where the threat comes from, handle it accordingly."

'He encourages racism'

These words of O'Leary drew the reaction of Muslims in the country. In the statement of the Muslim Council of Britain, it was stated that these statements were racist and discriminatory and that the businessman showed an example of Islamophobia.

Labor Party Deputy Khalid Mahmood stated that these words were nonsense and said:

"It's essentially saying, 'If they look like Muslims, they must be terrorists.' This doesn't improve relations in society; it contributes to people with a fascist mentality. In Germany this week, a white person killed nine people. Do we need to tag white people to see if they're fascists? It's very short-sighted and actually, It promotes racism.”

Known for his inconsistent statements, 58-year-old O'Leary once argued that passengers who use the toilet on the plane should be taxed and that obese passengers should pay extra. O'Leary, who acted condescendingly towards passengers who wanted to exercise their right to compensation, was in favor of fining those who forgot to print their boarding passes.

THE AIRCRAFT IS A WING BUS, WE WILL TAKE PASSENGER STANDING...'

Ryanair's CEO, Michael O'Leary, who came to the fore with his interesting ideas, had previously said that flight belts would not save anyone's life during an accident and that he would sell tickets for 1 Euro with the standing passenger option. O'Leary, who stated that an 'Airplane is a bus with wings', pointed out that the last 10 seats on the planes could be removed and replaced with seats for people traveling standing.

FAMOUS FOR HIS STAFFESS CALENDAR!

The calendar featuring Ryanair stewardesses is traditionally published every year by Ryanair with the aim of donating the proceeds to charities.