Ryanair Chief Pilot’s employment has been terminated with immediate effect over claims of sexual misconduct.
A Chief Pilot holds the position of a highly qualified airline captain as well as that of a manager who is responsible for overseeing pilots based at a hub airport. They are usually in charge of flight coordination and rostering, addressing personal issues, and training, and have a lot of power over their more junior fellow pilots who are seeking promotions. Hence the suggestion that someone in this position is behaving in an unacceptable and inappropriate way towards female staff is a very serious charge.
Aidan Murray aged 58 who has been the most senior pilot of the Irish carrier for the past 3 years has been let go on the 13th of June after company officials discovered that he engaged in a pattern of repeated unacceptable behaviour towards female colleagues, reported the Financial Times.
It is alleged that Aidan Murray who had been appointed in 2020 and been employed with the airline for almost three decades was let go from his six-figure salaried job earlier this week. Murray, who is reportedly married, had asked female pilots for pictures of their bodies and been manipulating schedules so that female colleagues would be on more of his flights. He is also alleged to have quizzed female staffers regarding their love life and sexual activity. According to reports, he has allegedly been found to have been sending junior female staffers as young as 21 sexually explicit text messages, including compliments on their ‘great body’ and ‘amazing ass’.
According to the Times of London, Murray had asked staffers to send him photos of themselves on at least two occasions, promising that they would not be revealed to anyone. He has been grooming female cadet pilots aged between 21 and 32 by offering assistance in furthering their careers. According to reports, he has also been altering flight schedules so he would be sharing a cockpit with junior female pilots who were his pet favourites.
The airline informed staff that the chief pilot, Aidan Murray had been fired for ‘a pattern of repeated inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour’ towards several female pilots. A notice has been sent to all staff requesting them to respect the privacy and integrity of the brave women who have come forward to assist them in this investigation.
According to The Independent, Mr. Murray had allegedly harassed junior colleagues which included sending some of them text messages with comments on their bodies. His behaviour had breached the anti-harassment policy of Ryanair which said that staff should be able to work in a safe and secure environment. He had been sacked after an internal investigation discovered that he had conducted a pattern of inappropriate behaviour towards female staff. It is believed that the incidents took place over a period of 18 months, starting with Mr. Murray contacting female pilots to offer them advice about their careers. The incidents relate to at least 8 junior cadet women pilots of Ryanair aged between their early 20s and early 30s, some of whom have already left the airline.
The airline which conducted a full internal investigation informed its staff that Mr. Murray had been removed from his position owing to his behaviour. Sources within the airline had said that extensive investigations were carried out since the allegations were made as they wanted to see whether this was merely an isolated incident or if there were other pilots or senior staff engaging in this behaviour.
Sources in Ryanair confirmed that aside from sacking Mr. Murray, the airline had offered counselling to the women who had been affected by his behaviour. At least one woman had left the airline while others have requested to be moved to a new hub.
The Financial Times reported that Mr. Murray has 7 days to launch an appeal against his dismissal.
