Ryanair is well-known for its strange policies. They wanted people to pay to use the toilet, they ordered seats where you would stand up all the way to your destination, they forced disabled passengers to pay for wheelchairs. The CEO, Michael O’Leary, actually lay down on the meeting table during a discussion with a group of my students.
But this…this is one step too far.
I am a native English speaker, but I speak fluent Afrikaans. Partly because I grew up during apartheid and it was the main language of the country, and partly because I lived in an Afrikaans neighbourhood growing up. When you are a kid and everyone you play with speaks a language, you quickly learn it if you want to join in. But not everyone in South Africa speaks Afrikaans. It is one of 11 official languages, and the mother tongue of only 13% of the popularion. And for many, it was the language of the apartheid oppressors, who forced them to speak it. What on earth was Ryanair thinking with this ridiculous test!
Fill in the form in some unrecognisable language and see how the ground staff get on with that!!