Ryanair CEO accused of racism for demanding extra checks on Muslim men at airports

Michael O’Leary, CEO of the Irish budget carrier Ryanair, is facing criticism for suggesting Muslim men flying alone should be singled out as threat at airports.
He explained in a recent interview that families with young children should not be subjected to airport security checks because there was zero chance of them being bombers, but added that terrorists “will generally be males of a Muslim persuasion”. “Thirty years ago it was the Irish. If that is where the threat is coming from, deal with the threat”, O’Leary said.
His comments were widely condemned on social media, with activists demanding a Ryanair boycott. The Muslim Council of Britain called the comments “racist and discriminatory”.
“Why can someone like O’Leary spread Islamophobia like this today? Because he thinks people don’t care. It’s time to boycott Ryanair. Also for many other reasons”, German Green party politician Ali Baş tweeted.
“In Germany this week a white person killed eight people. Should we profile white people to see if they’re being fascists?”, said the UK’s politician Khalid Mahmood from the Labour party.
The company later denied that O’Leary had called for Muslim men to face extra security checks before boarding a plane: “Michael was only calling for more effective airport security checks which would do away with much of the unnecessary queues at airport security today for all passengers”, a spokesman said.
O’Leary has been known for his controversial comments before. Previously, he said most airport security was “utterly useless”, and complained that airlines unfairly got the blame for climate change.
He also suggested that passengers should pay to use the toilet on his flights, said that requirements for Ryanair’s Dublin offices to have disabled access to all floors were “nonsense”, and said that he may charge a “fat tax” on obese people.