Less than a week after British Gas was humiliated during a Twitter Q&A on the day it unveiled huge price hikes, Michael O’Leary, the combative head of Ryanair, took to the site to spar with customers – with somewhat mixed results. Known as much for his unique personality as his work at the Irish airline, O’Leary carried out the publicity stunt while dressed up as leprechaun.

Ryanair’s annual meeting last month played out in the wake of a Which? members’ survey that ranked the firm the worst of 100 big brands. In the wake of that drubbing, O’Leary told shareholders that the company should try to “eliminate things that unnecessarily p*** people off” – and in the run up to the Q&A, he gave every indication that he meant it. “We want to keep improving our industry-leading customer service,” he said, “so I’m looking forward to our customers’ feedback.” Questions were fielded under the hashtag #GrillMOL.

However, MOL didn’t get off to the greatest start when he responded inappropriately to the profile picture one of his first inquisitors – a female. “Nice pic,” he tweeted. “Phwoaaarr! MOL”. Hey presto, the comment was quickly retweeted and drew negative reactions such as “@Ryanair how is it appropriate for an airline CEO to be a sexist pig?”

O’Leary attempted to calm the brewing spat by responding: “Just found out what hashtags are. Learning on da job! Always compliment ladies pics”. The businessman continued to experience difficulty with his hashtag, leading user Michael Kelly to ask: “When do you start your classes in learning how to use Twitter?” The Ryanair boss replied: “Just making this up as I go along.”

Although O’Leary’s transition to Twitter was not the smoothest, his laid-back and humorous responses certainly provided an antidote to aggrieved customers looking to rile the 52 year old. Adam Ringland tweeted: “@Ryanair What do you think has been Ryanairs biggest failure and biggest achievement? #GrillMOL” To which O’Leary responded: “Biggest achievement, bringing low fares to Europe and still lowering ‘em. Biggest failure, hiring me! #GrillMOL.”

Whether the Twitter forum was successful for Ryanair and will be a regular part of its engagement strategy with travellers is currently uncertain. But the move certainly reflects O’Leary’s long-term goal of becoming more accessible to customers – for acclaim and criticism alike.

Image of Michael O’Leary courtesy of Northfoto / Shutterstock