Ryanair CEO admits 'c*** up' over staff holiday fiasco

Budget airline Ryanair has come under fire after the firm announced that up to 50 flights a day would be cancelled, in order for staff to catch up on their holiday entitlement.

The company has written to 400,000 passengers to inform them that their flights have been cancelled, admitting to a “mess up” on pilot rostering – The Guardian reports. Chief Executive Michael O’Leary has apologised to customers “unreservedly” for a “mess of our own making”. However, the embattled CEO has since said that he will not step down over the mistakes, claiming “tt's not my biggest cock-up”.

The fiasco is thought to have been caused by changes to the company’s holiday year which created a backlog of staff leave and a dearth of pilots. “It's a cock-up that affects two per cent of our customers over a six-week period,” added O’Leary, “and I'm very sorry for it. Has this been one of the greatest days in Ryanair's history? No.

“It is my mess-up there, therefore I have to clean it up. I don't think my head should roll, I need to stay here and fix this. I apologise to customers who were affected… This is our mess-up. When we make a mess in Ryanair we come out with our hands up.”