Ryanair pilot quits after being sent to ‘dreadful’ Lithuania

A Ryanair pilot who said his boss Michael O'Leary should be replaced with a flight attendant to save money has quit after being moved to Lithuania.

Captain Morgan Fischer was one of almost 30 Ryanair pilots working in the south of France who had to move after the airline announced in October that it was closing its base in Marseille following a disagreement with French authorities.

Most of the pilots were offered postings at bases in Spain, Italy and Portugal. But Capt Fischer, who lives with his family in Aix-en-Provence, said he was eventually offered a post at the "Siberia" of a base in Lithuania.

Two months ago the pilot attacked comments made by Mr O'Leary calling for co-pilots to be removed from the flight deck to save money.

The Irish airline's chief executive also claimed that air stewardesses could instead be trained to land an aircraft in an emergency.

Responding in a letter to a newspaper, Capt Fischer wrote: "I would propose that Ryanair replace the chief executive with a probationary cabin crew member currently earning about 13,200 (£11,000) net a year."

Capt Fischer refused to comment on his resignation but a colleague said his posting to Kaunas in Lithuania was "a fairly considerable kick in the teeth".

He told the Financial Times: "Kaunas is considered Siberia for Ryanair pilots. It's very unpopular to be sent there. It's the back of nowhere with a completely different language. You're in eastern Europe and the money is dreadfully bad."

Stephen McNamara, from Ryanair, said the airline could not comment on individual employees. He said: "All our Marseille pilots have been offered positions at other Ryanair bases and the vast majority have already accepted these offers.

"Should some pilots choose not to, and resign, then much as we would regret such a decision, we would respect it and wish them every success."