Ryanair boss says airline won't fly with
'idiotic' social distancing rules
Michael O’Leary says business model will be in tatters
if he is forced to leave middle seats empty
Rob Davies
@ByRobDavies
Wed 22 Apr
2020 19.18 BSTLast modified on Wed 22 Apr 2020 20.25 BST
Michael O’Leary said Ryanair had told the Irish
government that, if it imposes the restriction, “either the government pays for
the middle seat or we won’t fly”.
Ryanair
planes won’t return to the skies if the airline is forced to leave the middle
seat empty to comply with “idiotic” in-flight social distancing rules, its
chief executive, Michael O’Leary, has said.
The boss of
the no-frills carrier, which has thrived by packing its flights as full as
possible with passengers lured by low prices, has previously said that blocking
out the space in between aisle seats is “nonsense” that would have no
beneficial effect.
He doubled
down on the comments on Wednesday, saying that if governments insisted on
social distancing measures, then Ryanair’s business model would be in tatters
and the carrier would not fly.
O’Leary
said that Ryanair had already told the Irish government that if it imposes the
restriction, then “either the government pays for the middle seat or we won’t
fly”.
The
Dublin-based carrier’s business model relies on flying as frequently as
possible, stripping out costs and running an extremely high “load factor”, the
aviation industry term for how full planes are.
“We can’t
make money on 66% load factors,” he said.
“Even if
you do that, the middle seat doesn’t deliver any social distancing, so it’s
kind of an idiotic idea that doesn’t achieve anything anyway,” he added, in an
interview with the Financial Times.
The global
airline industry’s trade body, Iata, has predicted huge ramifications for
airlines as a result of Covid-19, with lost revenues this year set to hit
$314bn (£255bn).
Iata said
earlier this week that any rules designed to minimise contagion in the skies
would temporarily put an end to the cheap air travel model pioneered by
Ryanair, forcing carriers to raise prices by 50% or go bust.
Ryanair’s
no-frills rival easyJet has said it expects socially distanced flights to be
possible in the short term, given that demand for air travel is likely to be
subdued in any case, even after lockdown restrictions ease off.
O’Leary
said European airlines should instead take their cue from Asia and impose
different safety measures, such as forcing passengers to wear masks or checking
their temperature at the airport.
Ryanair
flew more than 152 million people last year, putting it at the top of the
league table of European airlines, a position that gives O’Leary a particularly
influential voice in the industry.
He sounded
a more upbeat tone than some of his rivals, predicting a return to normal
passenger numbers by summer 2021, provided a vaccine for Covid-19 can be
developed.
He said the
airline would be able to pick up business from rivals that collapse as a result
of the pandemic, which has already forced Virgin Australia to file for
bankruptcy and left Ryanair’s European rival Norwegian Air fighting for its
survival.
Airlines
including Ryanair have faced criticism for dragging their feet on giving
refunds for cancelled flights, as they look to conserve cash during the
pandemic.
Some of the
industry’s biggest players are also trying to convince governments to bail them
out, after air travel all but ceased.
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