Nigerian pilot who became first African to fly solo around the globe loses race discrimination case against Ryanair

By ANDY DOLAN, GENERAL REPORTER Published: 11:49, 29 June 2026 | Updated: 11:57, 29 June 2026 A pilot who made history as the first African to fly around the world solo has lost a race discrimination case against Ryanair. Record-breaking Ademilola 'Lola' Odujinrin was sacked from the budget airline for failing to report serious safety failings which he tried to 'avoid being blamed for', an employment tribunal heard. The Captain, who was on a 'six-figure salary', also gave wild explanations for sleeping through his alarm when he was supposed to be working, including that a colleague had called him 'baldy' two days beforehand. Mr Odujinrin, who is black and grew up in the Nigerian capital Lagos, claimed that disciplinary action against him was motivated by racial bias. His claims for race discrimination were dismissed, but his claims for victimisation and unfair dismissal were successful because Ryanair made procedural mistakes in the process of firing him. Mr Odujinrin completed a nine-month journey across five continents in a single-engine aircraft in 2017, making him the first African to fly around the world solo. The tribunal, held in east London, heard that Mr Odujinrin worked as a pilot for Ryanair from February 2019, when he was based in London Stansted. He started off in the role of first officer, and because of delays partly caused by the pandemic, it took several years for him to be promoted to the role of Captain, even after going through coaching and assessments for the role. The tribunal panel said it was satisfied that the 'sole reason' for Ademilola Odujinrin's dismissal was his 'conduct'  Mr Odujinrin said it was 'incomprehensible' that he should remain as a first officer for so long because he was 'unusually experienced'. However, one of the reasons his promotion was delayed was that there were a limited number of Captain positions available and he also had a negative mark on his record, after failing to turn up for a shift in December 2020. Mr Odujinrin tried to blame his failure to set his alarm that day on an incident on a flight two days earlier, in which a training Captain 'burped repeatedly towards him, including shortly before landing, and on another occasion struck him lightly on the head and called him 'baldy''. He submitted a grievance which was rejected, and his appeal against this outcome was also dismissed. The pilot was eventually promoted to Captain in December 2022. Mr Odujinrin failed to report for duty in November 2023 because he forgot to 'set (his) alarm'. This meant that a flight was delayed by 57 minutes, and a return flight was delayed by over an hour. Following this incident, he 'accepted no responsibility, was evasive, obstructive, and attempted to deflect blame onto the company, rather than acknowledge the effect of his lateness on passengers and operations'. The tribunal heard that failing to report for duty without an acceptable reason, unnecessarily delaying passengers, and breach of trust were all examples of gross misconduct in Ryanair's policy and he was given a final written warning in December 2023. An appeal against that was unsuccessful. He maintained that his lateness was Ryanair's fault at the tribunal, claiming his roster had left him tired. On the first three of his six days off, he was therefore too tired to exercise and he then 'tried to make up for lost time at the gym, overexerted himself and pulled a muscle'. The tribunal judgment continued: 'He was advised to take ibuprofen, which he did; the ibuprofen he took at 20:00 the night before caused him to be unable to wake up. 'Asked by the Tribunal if he was going to be inviting the Tribunal to make a finding that it was Ryanair's fault that he overdid it at the gym, (Mr Odujinrin) accepted that he was not; thus, the elaborate chain of causation which (Mr Odujinrin) had constructed was broken.' Mr Odujinrin also failed to accurately record safety issues on two flights between 2023 and 2024, which included piloting mistakes he had made. The tribunal heard: '(Mr Odujinrin)'s account shifted over time, advancing a serious allegation of insubordination against his colleague when it suited his position but subsequently diluting or abandoning it.' In 2024, he was told by a colleague in a meeting about one of the incidents 'We're paid a six-figure salary to be in charge and we are responsible no matter what happens'. He was sacked in May 2024 for gross misconduct. The panel ruled: 'We are satisfied that the sole reason for the dismissal was conduct: the Claimant's under-reporting of safety issues in the two flights and his failure to accept responsibility for that under-reporting.' Employment Judge David Massarella branded his explanation for the December 2020 no-show 'fanciful' and reflected a 'pattern of (Mr Odujinrin) seeking alternative explanations for his own errors and/or seeking to pass the blame on to others'. On the actions which led to his sacking, EJ Massarella said: 'Insofar as a motive is required, we have concluded that he simply wished to avoid being blamed for his own failings. 'The failure to provide a full and frank account of the flights was a serious breach of trust in a safety-critical industry. 'That conduct was blameworthy. It caused (Mr Odujinrin)'s dismissal.' The aviator won claims of unfair dismissal and victimisation on technical grounds. It was heard Ryanair made procedural failures including not providing Mr Odujinrin with an investigation report and for using 'reprimanding' language towards him when he made a grievance appeal. His other claims were dismissed. Mr Odujinrin made his round-the-world journey in his own plane, aided by Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson.  The singer stepped in to help when the pilot ran out of money just three stops into his journey. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? 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