Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary issued a "sincere and unreserved" apology on Friday for recent remarks in which he described rival airlines as "rapists" due to their high fares.
"I have come to realize, however, that the word I used too carelessly has caused considerable upset and offense to a wide number of people, especially victims and survivors," O'Leary said in a video posted online.
The apology marks a U-turn from earlier, when O'Leary refused to apologize for the comments. Dublin Rape Crisis Centre chief executive Rachel Morrogh said O'Leary trivialized rape with the remarks.
"Since I certainly did not trivialize the heinous crime of rape, I will certainly not be issuing any apology," O'Leary said last week. He had originally made the remarks to journalists at Ryanair's company headquarters in Ireland.
"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, and others desperate to get to Ryanair's low fares because they can't afford to fly with high-fare rapists around Europe," O'Leary said.
O'Leary is one of Ireland's richest and most prominent businesspeople. His "rapist" remarks were met with criticism from leaders both in Ireland and the UK. Ireland's Taoiseach Michael Martin said he was "disappointed" by O'Leary's comments and added the Ryanair chief "should just stand back and reflect and listen to the voice of women" regarding the issue.
Martin told RTE Radio One that rape is "an awful, awful violation of a person, which leaves a terrible trauma." However, the Irish leader of the centrist to center-right Fianna Fail party did not call on O'Leary to explicitly apologize. Ireland's deputy prime minister, or Tanaiste, Simon Harris said O'Leary's comments were an "inappropriate use of language." However, Harris of the center-right Fine Gael party also did not explicitly call on O'Leary to apologize.
Laura Harmon, a senator belonging to Ireland's center-left opposition Labour Party, said O'Leary must apologize for the comments. "The casual use of the word 'rapist' to describe prices of his competitors is deeply shocking and could be traumatizing for any survivor of sexual abuse," Harmon said.
The UK's Transport Minister Heidi Alexander of the British Labour Party, in comments to LBC radio, said "Mr. O'Leary is often quick to share his considered thoughts with me and with the wider world." "I would say that women who have been raped and who have been subjected to such appalling violence, I'm not sure they're going to be rushing to book tickets with him, let's be honest," Alexander said.
O'Leary had earlier made controversial remarks regarding obese and Muslim passengers. He had also floated a fee for using a toilet mid-flight and expressed climate denial.
Source: www.dw.com