Of all the animals of prey, man is the only sociable one.
Every one of us preys upon his neighbour, and yet we herd together.
The Beggar's Opera: John Gay

Tuesday 8 November 2011

Leering O'Leary knows There's Always the Sun

Oh dear! Michael O'Leary's done it again. In a perfect storm of tackiness, O'Leary chose an interview with the Sun - on the City pages - to put forward the idea of pay-per-view in-flight entertainment of a distinctly adult nature.

What Ryanair passengers need, according to O'Leary, is a pay-TV service allowing them to watch TV, play games, gamble or watch 'erotic movies' on smart-phones or tablets:
"I’m not talking about having it on screens on the back of seats for everyone to see; it would be on handheld devices. Hotels around the world have it, so why wouldn't we?"
It's not the first time O'Leary has put forward a controversial idea - remember his suggestion for all-standing flights? Or getting rid of the co-pilot? - but this one sets a new standard for grubbiness, particularly given next year's Ryanair calendar, now on sale.

In a departure from the usual swimwear, the calendar features a bunch of Ryanair cabin crew so eager to play tennis or take a walk in the park that they appear to have left most of their clothes at home. Lingerie-clad young women are familiar territory for Sun readers, however, so, to be sure of the front page, O'Leary has had to go one better.

Because it's clear that O'Leary is not so much getting in touch with his inner Hugh Hefner as making sure of his continued place in the media spotlight. It's just that his method of choice - and his chosen vehicle - this time happens to be particularly sleazy.

In fact, I think this calls for another song (with apologies to The Stranglers):



Did you hear about O’Leary,
And his innovative idea
For the in-flight entertainment;
On discreet hand-held devices
The passengers get TV,
While films of an adult sort are
Played to order -
Nice’n’sleazy,
Mike O’Leary does it!

O’Leary he decided,
There’s no catering for the traveller,
With a charge for any luggage;
He spoke of savings many,
No co-pilot, porn aplenty,
Getting media attention
For his story,
Nice 'n' sleazy,
Mike O’Leary does it,
Mike O’Leary does it,
Mike O’Leary does it,
Does it every time!

11 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. Bucko, despite the manifold temptations presented by this story, could you please rephrase your comment in terms suitable for family reading?

    Thank you!

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  3. Sorry!

    *Shame*

    Erm, A small jet plane does not provide adequate privacy for watching such material.

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  4. Thanks, Bucko; aside from matters of taste, one of the servers I use is very picky and I don't want to find myself shut out of my own blog.

    The hotel analogy was certainly an odd one, given the nature of airline seats, but it did make sure of front-page coverage.

    Interestingly, O'Leary has one of these bright ideas ever year or so - and, having got him the free publicity, they then sink without trace; the man's a skilled PR operator, to be sure.

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  5. He is indeed. Always in the news and folk are always saying they would never fly Ryanair yet he's still raking it in.

    I'll remember my Sunday best when I'm here in future :-)

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  6. Mind you, his planes do have quite a few hard landings.

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  7. In light of what happened to Bucko I'm keeping all my thoughts to a PG standard, so I'll just say that it was about time O'Leary came up with something new to get his free advertising courtesy of a print media willing to repeat every brain fart he has. The paying toilets, stand up seats and co-pilotless planes have been trotted out two or three times each before and are getting silly, particularly the last two since the aircraft manufacturers have said stand up seats would add weight from reinforcement and increase costs and no aviation authority in Europe will let him halve aircrew in their airspace. Silly and tacky as this idea is at least it's plausible, and I have to say I'm amused by the thought of the inflight announcements:

    "Ladies and gentlemen, we will shortly be landing nearly 100 kilometres from the city nearly all of you actually want to go to. Please ensure that your cabin luggage is stowed and your seats are in the upright position. SEATS, I said!"

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  8. Well, I can't speak for all women James, but I wouldn't... ;)

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  9. "So tell me, Mrs O'Leary, what first attracted you one of Ireland's wealthiest businessmen?"

    AE, thank you for exercising restraint - and still managing to make me laugh out loud.

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