Ryanair's Michael O’Leary apologises for gibes about his pilots

Ryanair CE, Michael O’Leary, has issued an unprecedented apology to his pilots in an attempt to stem the crisis at the airline, which has cancelled thousands of flights and faced the threat of an employee revolt. The airline had to scrap the bookings of more than 700,000 passengers last month due to an apparent shortage of pilots, having failed to plan for enough leave for staff. Ryanair hoped a bonus payment could entice some pilots to change their holiday plans, but O’Leary then further inflamed the situation with disparaging comments about pilots at the airline’s annual meeting in Dublin. Thursday, the outspoken boss sent an extraordinarily contrite letter to pilots at the airline “to apologise personally to each of you for the disruptions you have experienced”. <br/>