Ryanair has defended its handling of an incident of racist abuse on a flight from Barcelona last Friday.
A video taken of a man racially abusing a woman, Delsie Gayle (77), on a Ryanair flight to London caused controversy after it appeared online.
David Mesher, who lives in Birmingham, can be heard calling Ms Gayle an "ugly black bastard", and shouting "don't talk to me in a foreign language you stupid ugly cow".
Mr Mesher then calls her “an ugly f****** c***” and tells staff to move the woman to another seat, adding: “if you don’t go to another seat I’ll push you to another seat”.
Speaking on ITV's Good Morning Britain Mr Mesher apologised for his comments, stating he "absolutely" regrets his behaviour.
“I probably lost my temper a bit and ordered her to get up,” he said, adding he was “not a racist person by any means”. He apologised for all the distress he had caused Ms Gayle.
Following the incident cabin crew moved Ms Gayle to another seat. The airline has been criticised for its response to the racist incident.
In a statement this morning Ryanair said it only became aware of the racist abuse late last Saturday, the day after the flight.
“Ryanair’s Spanish cabin crew were aware of an argument between these two passengers during the boarding process, but were not aware of, as they were not present when, racist comments that were made by the male passenger towards the female passenger,” the airline said.
Ryanair reported the video to Essex Police in Stansted airport on Sunday morning. Staff provided police with a copy of the video and the details of the two passengers involved.
The company said cabin crew had been shown the video after the flight landed in London but that the airline did not become aware of it until Saturday evening when the video had circulated widely on social media.
On Sunday morning Ryanair wrote to Ms Gayle, apologising for the incident. “We will not tolerate unruly behaviour like this at any time, and any passenger who acts in such a manner will be banned for life,” correspondence said.
The letter said the matter had been reported to the police, and was being treated with the “utmost attention and urgency” by Ryanair.
Ryanair released a copy of the letter, with personal information redacted, to counter claims the airline had not apologised to Ms Gayle. The carrier rejected claims it did not act quickly or appropriately in response to the incident and said cabin crew followed guidelines for dealing with a dispute between passengers.
The company said following the incident boarding the plane, Ms Gayle was “moved at her request to a seat adjacent to her daughter”.
Mr Mesher was not removed from the flight as cabin crew at the time believed the argument had been defused, and there was no threat to aircraft safety, the airline’s statement said.
“After moving the female passenger, both passengers were asked if they were okay, and both confirmed that they were,” it said.
Robin Kiely, head of communications at Ryanair, said: “we again extend our very sincere apologies to this passenger for the regrettable, and unacceptable remarks that were made to her.”
