YNOT – A European budget airline rated worst in its category by users of a popular comparison-shopping site may get a boost in ratings if it follows through with plans to offer in-flight entertainment streamed via the internet.
Ryanair, based in Ireland, frequently contends with the same sorts of criticism leveled at Southwest Airlines and other budget carriers in the U.S. In late October, Ryanair ranked worst in a GoCompare.com survey of 3,000 UK adults. The next week, the carrier revealed it is seeking a service provider to offer broadband internet service in-flight to its passengers. According to published reports, the service would make “all kinds of entertainment” — including adult content — available via a mobile application. Passengers could log on using their cell phones and tablets.
Ryanair Chief Executive Officer Michael O’Leary told the UK’s The Sun newspaper his airline plans to offer entertainment similar to what hotels offer guests.
“Hotels around the world have [adult entertainment], so why wouldn’t we?” he remarked.
O’Leary was quick to pedal back a bit though: “I’m not talking about having it on screens on the back of seats for everyone to see. It would be on handheld devices.”
Further backpedaling came from a Ryanair spokesman, who said, “Nothing has been decided as yet.”
At least one British travel agent dislikes the idea already.
“There may be a market for porn in hotels, but that’s in the privacy of a room,” Bob Atkinson of TravelSupermarket told The Sun. Anyone could see it on a plane. It’s wrong.”
This is not the first foray into public controversy undertaken by the Irish air carrier. The company is almost as well known for its CEO’s outlandish PR maneuvers as it is for its racy annual “The Girls of Ryanair” charity calendar.
