Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has defended the company's policy of low fares and high cost extras. Michael O'Leary said that while he felt "sympathy" for those caught out by the fees and said the airline doesn't "want the money" he added that Ryanair was "unapologetic" about them and had been "charging for 20 years".
Earlier this year, a woman criticised the airline after her elderly parents had to pay £55 each as they had checked in online for their return rather than outbound flight. Ruth and Peter Jaffe, aged 79 and 80 respectively, were charged £110 at London Stansted airport for not checking in online in time.
The couple’s daughter wrote online: "Hey, Ryanair, my parents who are in their 70s and 80s, had accidentally downloaded the return flight boarding card instead of the outgoing ones and you charged them £110 to print them at the airport. £110 for two pieces of paper which took one minute. Shame on you."
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In the comments, people were furious. One person said: "I have parents of same age group. I can feel the rage." The airline's policy states that if you fail to check in online up to two hours before your flight and need to use the check-in desk Ryanair charges a fee as standard. if you don't pay they simply won't hand over your ticket.
Some Brits were outraged by the airline's choice while others noted that the rules are the rules. Now, the boss of Ryanair has spoken out in defence of the policy saying it helps to keep costs low.
Michael O'Leary has since addressed complaints made about the policy. "This elderly couple, I feel sympathy for them. But, you know, the daughter is on complaining that we shouldn’t have charged them. We get lots of criticisms on a regular basis for these policies that are known, and we are absolutely unapologetic for them. If you show up, looking for airport check in, we’ve been charging for about 20 years," the CEO told The Independent.
The airline boss then added that ticket desks cost Ryanair "a fortune" to rent out and they have to pay for staff to help the 0.2% of customers he claimed failed to check-in online. If all passengers would check-in online then these costs would not apply to the airline.
The boss said: "We don’t want the money, we just don’t want anybody showing up the airport without having checked in online. It’s a very simple policy. It’s like arriving at the check-in gate with an oversized bag. You will not get it on board. We will charge you £60 or £70 not because we want the money. We just don’t want your bag."
Michael added that he would not apologise for fining passengers who didn't check-in online as they'd been reminded "on multiple occasions" to check-in before arriving and that it helped the airline's budget fares low. British Airways, easyJet and Jet2 all allow airport check-in at no extra charge while Wizz Air sells the option to check in at the airport for £11.50.
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