DAA board should be sacked instead of chief executive, O’Leary says

The board overseeing Dublin Airport should be sacked instead of DAA chief Kenny Jacobs, Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary has said.

Mr O’Leary made the suggestion as he also took swipes at the “do-nothing Government” of Taoiseach Micheal Martin and Tanaiste Simon Harris in a lengthy press conference to launch the airline’s winter schedule on Thursday.

The comments come amid a reported rift between the DAA board and Mr Jacobs which could see him receive an exit package of up to 1.2 million euro.

Mr O’Leary said it would be more cost-effective to remove the board and keep the chief executive in his post.

Mr Jacobs previously worked as Ryanair’s chief marketing officer.

Asked if he would welcome him back to Ryanair, Mr O’Leary said: “No, no, no.

“The DAA are going to blow 1.2 million buying him off by paying out his contract for the next two or three years.

“Then they are going to replace him with someone else making 1.2 million over that period as well.”

He added: “If it was me, I’d fire the board.

“That would require a Government with a spine, or a Government in this country that’s capable of making decisions, and we do not have a Government that does.”

Mr O’Leary said there was “no point in having the change” of chief executive and hypothesised that it would be “certainly cheaper” to fire the board.

He said he was not a “great fan” of what Mr Jacobs had done in his role as chief executive of the DAA, in particular the proposals to spend 200 million euro on a underground cargo tunnel at Dublin Airport.

He added: “He’s a very able executive. I would have no trouble in recommending him to any company on the sales or the commercial side.”

Mr O’Leary said Ryanair was not in the habit of bringing people back to the organisation, adding it “didn’t work out well” in the past.

The airline boss also criticised senior Government figures, planning and environmental authorities, residents in communities near Dublin Airport and the Israeli government.

Mr O’Leary, who donned a blue Santa suit with an exaggerated belly as part of the press event, criticised Mr Martin and Mr Harris for “swanning around New York” and “getting their photo taken” for the UN high-level week.

He compared them to movie characters Dumb and Dumber, dubbing the leadership duo as “slow and slower”.

He said the Government was not taking swift enough action in lifting the traffic cap at Dublin Airport, further blaming “morons” in An Coimisiun Pleanala and “Nimbys” living nearby for restricting growth.

Mr O’Leary criticised “loonies” at the Environmental Protection Agency as well as “bureaucratic bullshit” out of Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien and his “Department of Failure”.

He hypothesised that US President Donald Trump would be antagonised by the landing-hour restrictions on American airlines landing at Dublin Airport and would retaliate by blocking Aer Lingus’ access to New York.

He said that would spur the Government to change the traffic restrictions at Dublin Airport within 24 hours.

Meanwhile, he said Ryanair had given Israeli authorities until next Tuesday to guarantee it would keep “low-cost” charges if its flights were moved to the “high-cost” terminal and that it will have all its slots back next year.

He said if this did not happen the airline would not be returning to operation in Israel, adding: “Frankly, it wouldn’t cost me much of a thought.”

Mr O’Leary unveiled Ryanair’s winter schedule with 96 routes, including one new route to “Morocco’s winter sun capital” of Rabat as well as extra frequencies on 28 other routes, like Birmingham, Budapest, Krakow, Milan and Valencia.