Ryanair pilot Captain Morgan Fischer was apparently transferred from Marseille to Lithuania after he openly criticised chief executive Michael O'Leary for suggesting co-pilots should be replaced with flight attendants. In a public letter published in the UK Financial Times, Fischer recommended O’Leary be replaced with a "probationary cabin crew member currently earning €13,200 a year". Two months later Fischer was offered a transfer to Kaunas in Lithuania after Ryanair announced the closure of operations in Marseille, where the pilot is based. Fischer was posted to the Eastern Europe base even though his colleagues at Marseille relocated to Spain, Portugal and Italy. As a result he resigned.
Ryanair has denied that Fischer was sent to Kaunas for criticising O’Leary; he was sent there to fill pilot vacancies. "Absolutely not. He did not make a base request. The people who did provide us with requests were provided with their first or second choice," said a spokesperson for the low cost carrier.