Sack airline boss to cut costs, says pilot

LONDON - A Ryanair pilot has ­suggested that the airline’s boss should be replaced by a trainee member of the cabin crew to cut company expenses, a media report said Wednesday.

The jibe came after the budget airline boss Michael O’Leary said his planes did not need two pilots. He said a flight attendant could do the job of co-pilot these days as “the ­computer does most of the flying”, Daily Express reported.

­Morgan Fischer, 41, has ­suggested that a ­better way of saving money would be to axe O’Leary, who is due a dividend of 16 million pounds after leading the company to pre-tax profits of 281 million pounds.

Marseilles-based Fischer, who trains other pilots and has 20 years of flying experience, including five years with Ryanair, wrote to a national newspaper just days after O’Leary voiced his “brainwave” of flying passenger planes with just one pilot.

He said: “As a Ryanair employee, I am aware of the ­company’s desire to reduce costs whenever feasible.

“I would propose that Ryanair replace the chief executive with a probationary cabin crew member currently earning about 13,200 pounds net a year. Ryanair would benefit by saving millions of euros in salary, benefits and stock options.

“Further, there will be no need to petition either Boeing or governmental aviation regulators for approval to replace the CEO with a cabin crew member as such approval would not be required.”

O’Leary has built Ryanair into one of the world’s busiest airlines with a crusade to cut costs - and an eye for publicity.

He has hit headlines by calling for a fat tax on portly passengers, standing room on flights and charges for using on-board toilets.

But Tuesday night, he signalled that he is willing to consider Fischer’s idea. A Ryanair spokesman said: “Michael thinks that cabin crew would make a far more attractive CEO than him - this obviously isn’t a very high bar - so we are going to seriously look at this suggestion.

“After all, if we can train them to land the plane, it should be no ­problem training them to do Michael’s job as well.”