Ryanair CEO: Leaving Middle Seat Open ‘Idiotic,’ Airline Won’t Fly if Forced to Do So

The CEO of low-cost carrier Ryanair said he would not restart operations if the airline were forced to leave middle seats open for social distancing.

Currently, over 99% of Ryanair’s fleet has been grounded due to government travel bans amidst the coronavirus outbreak.

If governments require airlines to do this, it would mean the end of “cheap travel,” said Michael O’Leary, head of the Irish airline, in an interview with the Financial Times.

Leaving the middle seat unoccupied “doesn’t deliver any social distancing, so it’s kind of an idiotic idea that doesn’t achieve anything anyway,” he said.

“We can’t make money on 66% load factors,” he said, adding that “the middle seat doesn’t deliver any social distancing, so it’s kind of an idiotic idea that doesn’t achieve anything anyway.”

Dublin-based Ryanair, which was founded in 1984, is the world’s largest low-cost carrier and the largest European airline. It operates a fleet of 300 Boeing 737s.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)