LONDON (AP) — Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary on Wednesday dismissed Elon Musk’s idea of buying the budget airline and shrugged off insults from the billionaire, in a war of words that erupted over installing Starlink systems on aircraft.
The spat between one of the world’s richest individuals and one of Europe’s most outspoken corporate bosses has been escalating for days. O’Leary said last week that the airline had ruled out putting Musk’s Starlink satellite Wi-Fi on Ryanair planes because the extra fuel drag from the system’s antennas would be too costly.
Responding to Musk’s accusations that he was “misinformed,” O’Leary told an Irish radio station that “I would pay no attention whatsoever to Elon Musk, he’s an idiot.”
Musk fired back on his social media platform X, calling O’Leary an “utter idiot” and an “imbecile.” He posted, “Should I buy Ryan Air and put someone whose actual name is Ryan in charge?” and polled his followers on the idea of buying the airline, with 76.5% responding yes.
O’Leary told reporters in Dublin, where Ryanair is based, that non-European citizens can’t own a majority stake in a European airlines. Musk was born in South Africa and lives in the United States.
“But if he wants to invest in Ryanair, we would think it’s a very good investment. Certainly a significantly better investment than the financial returns he’s earning on X,” O’Leary said.
Musk purchased X in 2022 for $44 billion after clashing with top executives at the platform previously known as Twitter.
O’Leary, who’s known for trolling critics, thanked Musk for “additional publicity.” The airline has taken advantage of the spat to launch a seat sale with promotional material featuring a caricature of Musk.
He brushed off the billionaire’s insults.
“All I would say to Elon Musk is he would have to join the back of a very, very, very, very long queue of people” who have already insulted him, “including my four teenage children,” he said.
O’Leary said Ryanair had been in discussions with Starlink for about 12 months on installing the system.
“We like the Starlink system. It is a terrific system. It works very well,” he said, but adding it would cost the company about $250 million a year. That includes the cost of installing two antennas onto each aircraft fuselage, plus an extra 2% of aerodynamic drag that would increase the fuel bill by $200 million.
Starlink has quickly emerged as a major player in in-flight connectivity, with more than two dozen airlines worldwide having either signed deals or publicly announced plans to use the satellite network. The list spans North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, and it ranges from major carriers like British Airways, Korean Air and United Airlines, to budget airlines such as Vueling.
Some airlines already offer the service on active routes, including Qatar Airways, Canada’s WestJet and Hawaiian Airlines, which became the first major carrier to debut Starlink’s Wi-Fi in February 2024.
Ryanair would have to charge for Starlink but O’Leary estimated that less than 5% of passengers would want to spend a few extra euros for the service on its short-haul flights, which average about one hour and 15 minutes.
The airline is still in talks with other telecommunications providers, including Amazon, which is launching its Starlink rival Kuiper, to provide onboard internet service, “but only in a way where it will lower our costs,” O’Leary said.
He also addressed a recent controversy around Musk’s AI chatbot Grok, which is available through X and was being used to generate nonconsensual deepfake images.
“Social media, X in particular is, a cesspit,” O’Leary said. “The most recent controversy with, you know, undressing children or undressing women is frankly offensive.”
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Associated Press airlines and travel writer Rio Yamat contributed from Las Vegas.
