Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary, never one to avoid a fight or a chance for more publicity for his airline, has touched off another feud, this time over airport drinking that leads to bad behavior on planes.
It’s not a new issue for O’Leary, but this time it’s brought blowback from Tim Martin, boss of Wetherspoon’s, which runs hundreds of pubs, including quite a few in airports.
O’Leary wants a two-drink limit on passengers, and an end to people buying drinks at 5 or 6 am while waiting for flights. Martin says that “a two-drink limit would be extraordinarily difficult to implement, short of breathalyzing passengers, and would, in our opinion, be an overreaction – especially since many of the problems stem from incoming flights.”
The Ryanair chief says the problem has reached a stage where his airline has to cancel or divert a flight every day because of onboard behavior—some of which may result from drinks sold and served on board flights.
