Outspoken chief executive says being paid 20 times more than his average employee is not enough

Ryanair's Michael O'Leary has enlivened the debate on executive pay by saying that being paid 20 times more than his average employee is too little, claiming to work "50 times harder".

The outspoken chief executive of the Irish airline said his €1.2m (£1m) pay last year made him "the most underpaid and underappreciated airline boss in Europe".

O'Leary capped a boisterous interview with Management Today by stating that "holidays are a complete waste of time" and moaning about the charges imposed by his own airline when he does take his wife and four children abroad. He said: "Of course I fly Ryanair, but it costs me a fortune in excess baggage."

With a habitual dig at the rival airline that Ryanair has been blocked from taking over, O'Leary said: "I'm paid about 20 times more than the average employee and I think that gap should be wider. I probably work 50 times harder. I was paid €1.2m last year for carrying 80 million passengers. Aer Lingus's boss [Christoph Mueller] got €1.3m for carrying 9 million passengers. I think I'm the most underpaid and underappreciated airline boss in Europe."

O'Leary is not the first airline executive this year to draw attention to the size of his salary package, with Steve Ridgway of Virgin Atlantic saying his £350,000 a year pay was "not as high as I'd like it to be and my bosses know that", shortly before his departure was announced in September.

However, O'Leary's views are unlikely to be interpreted as a similar come-and-get-me. He added: "I'm probably unemployable, which is why a business as shitty as the airline industry is one where I can flourish."