No wonder Ryanair makes us pay to choose seats! Airline boss Michael O’Leary’s pay rises to £8K a DAY
RYANAIR passengers recently accused the airline of changing its seating policy so that travellers from the same booking are split up
RYANAIR passengers have been infuriated with the airline in recent months, claiming that they are being forced to pay for allocated seats or face being seated at opposite ends of the cabin.
The news that Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary’s salary has risen yet again is unlikely to calm anyone’s temper either.
The Chief Exec’s earnings hit €3.26million (£2.92million) last year, which works out at €8,931 (£7,987) a DAY – an annual increase of £89,000 on the salary he received the previous year.
That’s 125 times the average salary of a nurse in the UK and 19.5 times the salary of the Prime Minister Theresa May.
According to Ryanair’s 2017 annual report, O'Leary was paid a salary of €1million (£890,000) plus bonus and share compensation.
He also sold four million shares in the company, netting him €72million (£64 million).
The news comes just a few weeks after he told angry passengers to pay extra or quit “whinging” about
being seated randomly on flights.
The outspoken airline CEO blasted disgruntled passengers “talking nonsense” after they began to complain about the airline’s seating policy.
He said: “The whining, whinging minority out there that somehow believe they should have the right to sit where they like free of charge.
“Sorry you can’t because more than half of our passengers want to pay a very small fee to select their seat.”
Furious Ryanair passengers have accused the low-cost airline of changing its seating policy so that travellers from the same booking are split up.
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Couples and people travelling in groups complain that they are being punished with separate middle seats in different rows if they don’t pay an additional charge for reserved seating.
Passengers have pay an extra from £2 to £14 on top of their air fare depending on what seats they want to reserve, or sit at random with no extra charge.
Ryanair insist that they have not changed their seating policy though, despite scores of passengers suddenly complaining about being seated apart.
They told Sun Online: "The reason for more middle seats being allocated is that more and more passengers are taking our reserved seats (from just €2) and these passengers overwhelmingly prefer aisle and window seats, which is why people who choose random (free of charge) seats are more likely to be allocated middle seats.
"Some random seat passengers are confused by the appearance of empty seats beside them when they check-in up to four days prior to departure.
"The reason they can’t have these window or aisle seats is that these are more likely to be selected by reserved seat passengers many of whom only check-in 24 hours prior to departure."
The airline also recently blasted their own passengers for trying to save cash because young children were bringing their own bags onto flights.
The budget airline claims passengers are abusing the system and “coming in with the kitchen sink” and warned the firm may ramp up checks at boarding gates as a result of passengers taking advantage of the guidelines.
Ryanair’s finance boss Neil Sorahan said: “I’ve seen two-year-olds wheeling a bag up to the plane as people try to take advantage.”
The airline will add eight extra seats to new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft from 2019, in order to save even more money on flights, with extra space created by moving the toilets at the rear of the cabin to the end wall.
The airline has also said that the new design will give passengers 31 inches of legroom, instead of the current 30 inches.
But while eight seats will be added to the aircraft, Neil Sorahan admitted that there would only be overhead cabin space for one or two extra bags.
This could mean that more travellers will be forced to check their bags into the hold.
In a recent interview, Neil Sorahan suggested that passengers who want to guarantee their bag wouldn't be taken by cabin crew at the gate should pay for priority boarding, as the first 90 bags are assured a spot in the overhead cabin.