Ryanair’s CEO to Passenger: ‘Delusional’—When PR Strategy Is Just Public Mockery
It’s Friday in September, and Ryanair’s social media team is once again doing what they do best: roasting their own customers in public for sport. This time, Michael O’Leary, the airline’s firebrand CEO, flat-out called a passenger “delusional” after the man claimed he was nearly sucked out of a plane window mid-flight. You’d think, given the European budget carrier’s reputation for nickel-and-diming, they’d at least muster some PR polish. Nope. O’Leary doubled down, not just denying the claim but ridiculing it with the subtlety of a Saturday night pub bouncer.
Let’s be clear: Ryanair’s entire persona is built on being the ‘bad boy’ of the skies. They love to troll on Instagram, but there’s a line between cheeky and contemptuous. This week’s public dragging shows they’re not even pretending to care about customer experience—unless it’s the experience of being humiliated online for likes. The result? A race-to-the-bottom brand playbook that other bottom-feeder airlines will copy, because why invest in decency when you can just clap back harder?
Meanwhile, the media landscape is showing the same ruthless streak. McClatchy, one of the last old-guard news chains left standing, is axing up to 30% of its editorial staff this week. That’s not just a number; that’s entire city beats and investigative desks going dark, while executives cite ‘restructuring’ and get back to their Friday golf. In the same news cycle, OpenAI is busy trying to swat away a fresh round of murderbot panic. Their latest damage-control statement reads like a ChatGPT prompt gone wrong; generic, hedged, and about as reassuring as a Ryanair apology.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: companies are learning that being publicly abrasive pays better than pretending to care, at least in the short term. But while O’Leary’s latest stunt will rack up the TikTok views, it’s another reminder that contempt for your users is now a viable corporate strategy. If you’re in PR, journalism, or tech, stop pretending it’s about trust—it’s about who can go viral by being the most shameless. My recommendation: if you’re flying Ryanair this autumn, bring earplugs and a thick skin. And if you work in media, update your LinkedIn, because the next round of layoffs won’t even come with a snarky tweet.
