"What type of people do you enjoy mistreating most? I'm guessing elderly and disabled?" was one of the earliest tweets, quickly followed by: "Were you born an arsehole or has it progressed throughout your life?" and: "Is it company policy for your staff to be rude and unhelpful as possible?"
See a stream of the GrillMOL tweets here:
Tweets about "#GrillMOL"
Other popular topics included baggage charges, the distance from Ryanair's terminals to cities it says it flies to and the perceived lack of comfort in its spartan cabins.
Among the many tweets to go unanswered were some about tragic personal circumstances. "Due to fly to Riga on Saturday but can't go as my mum in law is losing her cancer battle. 388 quid to re-book seems unfair," read one. "Why no response for a refund request (sent reg. post) in over a month from seriously ill girl with special needs? @Ryanairscum" went another.
When O'Leary entered into a discussion, it did not always end amicably. One questioner asked: "Is there any truth in the rumour that you plan to charge passengers for each inhalation they make after take off?" The chief executive responded instantly with: "Hi Beth, great idea. Have a team workin' on it as we breathe!" The riposte read: "I thought you might like that one you money-grabbing bastards".
One Ryanair employee who dared to join the conversation by tweeting, "So my boss is on Twitter right now," received the immediate response: "Get back to work you slacker or you're fired."
Andy Gilderdale mocked the airline's policy of using "secondary" airports. "Tried to send you a question on Twitter but it ended up on Facebook instead. Still, by your standards that's close enough."
Among the mud-slinging, Ryanair passengers learned a few things about the airline's plans. It will be introducing smartphone-enabled check-in by the summer, which should reduce the number of passengers obliged to pay A3;70 for failing to arrive at the airline without one printed out. And there are no plans to introduce assigned seating, as easyJet has recently done.
By the end of the scheduled hour, O'Leary appeared to be enjoying the banter. Stuart Robinson asked: "Is it true that one in four Ryanair flights is fuelled by leprechaun urine?" It prompted the immediate response: "Dat's an outrageous slur. All [Ryanair] flights are fuelled with Lep wee and my bulls**t!"
"What do you think has been Ryanair's biggest failure and biggest achievement", asked Adam Ringland. "Biggest achievement, bringing low fares to Europe and still lowering 'em. Biggest failure, hiring me!" O'Leary replied.
And as if to demonstrate that the criticism had fallen on deaf ears, the Ryanair feed appeared to ignore the question: "Will you be looking for a new social media manager tomorrow?" only to later ask for views on a future Twitter chat.
Plane speaking: Top tweets
@digital_times Don't you just hate moaners and proles?
GrillMOL What plans have you to make @Ryanair even more uncomfortable for people?
@Ben_Yates I've sent one
GrillMOL tweet to @Ryanair and already an invoice for 18.50. Or 18.25 if I take their credit card.
@TripeUK How far is Ryanair Frankfurt to Frankfurt to the nearest 100 miles?
GrillMOL
@AdamParsons So
GrillMOL is yet to take off. Now running more than ten minutes late. @Ryanair's punctuality under scrutiny again
@jamesrquinn Worth pointing out
GrillMOL wasn't 10 mins late - it was 1 hour early - advertised to be 4-5pm GMT! Ryanair can't get anything right
@andymcgeady Hi @Ryanair. How much will Michael charge per reply? And are you charging me to send this tweet?
GrillMOL
@andrewtheplane
GrillMOL Why do you abandon passengers at airports and tell them to leave when flights are cancelled?
@Ball00n_knot Are you tempted to make rude unhelpful replies, like your staff?
GrillMOL @Ryanair
@realhatsmatter
GrillMOL Do you have a valid export license for your cattle business?
-The Independent
