Why eco zealots love to hate Ryanair

There are many reasons why someone might want to throw a cream pie at Michael O’Leary, the motormouth boss of budget airline Ryanair. Usually, the only satisfying thing about a Ryanair flight is the price. (And even then prices have been going up.) Then there’s his one-note Remoanerism, his contemptuous comments over the years about Brexit-voting Brits. And his contempt for some of his own workers. But that’s not why O’Leary was pied by some activists in Brussels today, as he handed in a petition to the European Commission, calling for flights over Europe to be better protected from air-traffic-control strikes. No, they’re angry – apparently – that his firm exists at all. 

‘Stop the pollution of the f*****g planes’, two women shouted, as they pressed two paper plates of cream, one after the other, into two sides of O’Leary’s mug. While it’s unclear if they belong to any particular eco-group, their message is easy enough to intuit: how dare this man offer ordinary people a few weeks in the sun.