Air rage is at an all-time high this summer, the chief executive of Ryanair has said, with Michael O’Leary blaming the high level of flight delays across Europe this summer – together with growing numbers of passengers taking drugs as well as alcohol.
As passenger disruption soars, the boss of Europe’s biggest budget airline has called for a two-drink limit to be imposed at airports across Europe.
Speaking to The Independent‘s travel podcast, Mr O’Leary said: “We are seeing record numbers. We and most of the airlines around Europe are seeing a spike upwards, particularly this summer, of disgruntled passengers on board.
“I think the real challenge is: flight delays are up at a record high this summer, so people are spending time in airports drinking before they board aircraft.”
Earlier this month, a passenger on a Ryanair flight from from Manchester to Lanzarote described how he felt forced to act as a security guard after an intoxicated man “went bananas” while the plane was mid-air.
At a news conference in London, Michael O’Leary said: “Passengers fighting with each other is a growing trend on board aircraft. That’s the biggest challenge are crews are dealing with at the moment.
“We were probably dealing with at least one bad case of assault on a weekly basis now.” Five or 10 years ago, he said, “it would have been almost zero”.
He said the use of illicit drugs was partly responsible. “You would always have drunk passengers but drunk passengers generally fall asleep,” he said.
“Drunk passengers who are on powder and tablets get aggressive.”
“We’ve made submissions to the governments across Europe. We want two things. One: much more effective fines – fining passengers by the local magistrates when they’re hauled off planes for disruptive behaviour.
“And two: we need to have a ban on airports – not [on] selling alcohol, but limiting the amount of alcohol that can be sold to any passenger to two alcoholic drinks.
“So in the same way that you have to show your boarding pass when you go through duty free to buy cigarettes or alcohol, we believe you should have to show your boarding pass to buy an alcoholic drink at a bar at an airport. And you shouldn’t be served more than two alcoholic drinks – particularly when flights are delayed.”
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