- Ryanair is getting slammed for failing to remove a white man who hurled racist insults at an elderly black woman aboard one of its flights on Friday.
- Video of the incident has gone viral, with several people chastising the airline's reaction.
- "We are aware of this video and have reported this matter to Essex Police," Ryanair said in a statement.
The Irish ultra-low-cost airline Ryanair is under fire after its crew failed to remove a white man who hurled racist insults at an elderly black woman while boarding a flight from Barcelona, Spain, to London on Friday.
The incident was captured on video by a fellow passenger, David Lawrence, and has gone viral, with more than 5 million views on Facebook and 600,000 on YouTube as of Monday.
It's unclear what, if anything, triggered the tirade. The video shows the man, in a window seat of the Boeing 737, shouting a series of vile racist and sexist insults toward the woman, who's in the aisle seat. The caption Lawrence posted with the video indicated the man did not want to sit next to her.
A Ryanair crew member eventually moved the woman to another seat, while the man was allowed to remain in his seat.
Ryanair has released a one-sentence statement: "We are aware of this video and have reported this matter to Essex Police."
The reaction on social media to the tirade was swift and overwhelmingly critical of Ryanair, even spawning the hashtag #RyanairRacism.
Nice try of moving the responsibility away from yourself. You failed. You let racism happening in one of your planes and instead of taking a stand against it you took the worst opinion in moving the woman away and let the racist sit. Shame on you. #RyanairRacism
— Søren Molkentin (@SoerenMlktn) October 22, 2018
ABSOLUTELY DREADFUL!! #ryanairracism and why was this Lady told to change seats? #SinkUBastardshttps://t.co/71O5LI8RYe
— @arsenalsdove (@arsenalsdove) October 21, 2018
Ryanair priority boarding queue in Luton earlier today... pic.twitter.com/hrZaHP5P2y
— 🎶 HauntEd Smith 🎶 (@edsongsofpraise) October 22, 2018
@Ryanair, by tolerating the racist ugliness from one passenger to another, you seem to condone it. Make this a learning moment and figure out how you’re going to handle it next time. #StandUpToRacism
— Heidi Heinbaugh (@HeidiHeinbaugh) October 22, 2018
Other have also pledged to boycott the airline, with the hashtag #BoycottRyanair.
This is disgusting, Ryanair should have intervened immediately instead of just letting her be repeatedly subjected to racist abuse! The Racist should have been kicked off the aircraft & reported to police! I will NEVER fly with #Ryanair again! #BoycottRyanair#RyanairRacism
— @mssgtty (@mssgtty) October 22, 2018
Boycott Ryanair!
— Curious Chak (@Curious_Chak) October 22, 2018
#disgraceful@ryanair What is your policy on racists? Do we not have ways to combat people like this in public? Why are you taking his side? What message does this convey? Haven't flown with you in years because you're shit. I hope this inspires others to #boycottryanair
— thehowler2012 (@thehowler2012) October 20, 2018
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