Look at just about any ranking of the world’s airlines, and you’ll likely find Irish ultra-budget carrier Ryanair positioned near the bottom, perhaps somewhere between Korean Air and Pakistan International Airlines.
This latest kerfuffle isn’t helping.
On a flight set to take off for London from Barcelona, an older white guy was filmed by a nearby passenger ranting against an elderly black woman, calling her a “stupid, ugly cow” and an “ugly black bastard.”
He demanded she leave his row or he would physically remove her, and he also told her not to speak to him in a foreign language, even though she wasn’t.
Here’s just a snippet of what went down:
What did Ryanair ultimately do? Nothing. Except move the lady to another seat and allow the codger to fly to his destination and luxuriate in row all to himself. This, even as other passengers urged the crew to remove him from the flight.
One passenger said that, “after the black woman was verbally assaulted, dehumanized, moved... the flight attendant took it a step further and went back to console the abuser.” His response was basically: I'm fine now that she’s gone.
Once the video, which has now garnered 5 million views on Facebook FB, +1.20% spread across the internet, a #BoycottRyanair backlash ensued. Among those leading the charge on Twitter was this Labour Party lawmaker:
Ok boycott @Ryanair if they think it’s ok for a racist man to abuse an elderly black woman and remain on the plane. It’s 63 years since Rosa Parks said “No “ to sitting on the back of the Bus and we ain’t going back. https://t.co/IYczabgjMJ
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) October 21, 2018
He wasn’t the only one, of course. By Monday, the response had gone viral:
... Haven’t spent money flying @Ryanair in years. This gives me even more reason now. Absolutely disgusting that they didn’t take action & eject him from the flight. We should all boycott! I certainly will be. Note to future employers: DO NOT BOOK ME A FLIGHT WITH THIS AIRLINE! https://t.co/rj6V8VBdLm
— Nicholas Pinnock (@nicholaspinnock) October 22, 2018
Ryanair priority boarding queue in Luton earlier today... pic.twitter.com/hrZaHP5P2y
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