Ryanair’s chief pilot is sacked after he ‘asked young female pilots to send him pictures of their bodies and told someone she had a ‘big butt’ as part of a pattern of inappropriate behaviour’
- Ryanair staff learned via email that Aidan Murray, 58, had been fired
- The investigation allegedly involved a number of female trainee pilots who were allegedly “sexually harassed and coerced” by Murray
Ryanair has fired their chief pilot after trainees filed numerous sexual harassment complaints against him.
Ryanair staff – whose slogan is ‘Europe’s favorite airline’ – were told by email that 58-year-old Aidan Murray had been fired.
The airline took action after reportedly asking women to send him pictures of their bodies with replies from him including “You have an amazing body” and another saying “amazing a*s”.
The note – from the company’s head of HR Darrell Hughes – said: ‘We regret to inform you that last night we terminated the employment of the Ryanair DAC Chief pilot (who was appointed in 2020) with immediate effect.
The decision follows an investigation over the past few days that revealed a pattern of repeated and inappropriate and unacceptable behavior towards a number of female junior pilots, in violation of our anti-harassment policy.
Ryanair staff – whose slogan is ‘Europe’s favorite airline’ – were told by email that Aidan Murray (pictured), 58, had been fired
“We are committed to ensuring that all our people come to work in a safe environment. We would like to ask all of you to respect the privacy and integrity of those brave individuals who stepped forward to assist us in this investigation.”
The investigation allegedly involved a number of female trainee pilots who were allegedly “sexually harassed and coerced” by Murray.
Other women would also have made statements to the airline about his behavior towards all those involved between the ages of 21 and 32.
He allegedly changed their schedules so that he could work alongside them in the cockpit and the alleged inappropriate behavior was said to have taken place over the past 12 to 18 months.
Ryanair took action after Murray reportedly asked women to send him pictures of their bodies with replies from him including ‘You have an amazing body’ and another saying ‘amazing a*s’
Ryanair has given advice to those who have come forward to raise the allegations and one of those involved has left, while another has asked to be moved elsewhere and two others have changed their shift schedule.
A source told MailOnline: ‘The four were in a difficult position and he took advantage of that. They were young and had invested a lot of money in their education.’
Murray – whose Linkedin profile has been deactivated – could not be contacted and in a statement, Ryanair said: ‘We do not comment on questions related to individual employees.’
He has been a pilot for 30 years and spent over 26 years in various roles at Ryanair.