An unlikely feud between SpaceX multibillionaire, Elon Musk, and Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary has erupted over the cost of adding Starlink to short-haul European airplanes. O’Leary had taken none of Musk’s insults and shot back publicly during a press conference.
The Ryanair CEO carefully broke down for Musk the reasons why he would not follow in the footsteps of German airline Lufthansa and add Starlink to his aircraft. He then went on to insult the man further by running a campaign named the ‘Big Idiots Seat Sale’ in his honor before thanking him for the boost in publicity.
Initially, the spat started when O’Leary was asked about adding an antenna to his aircraft so that his passengers could receive in-flight Wi-Fi. The airline CEO said that it wasn’t on the cards. According to his and others’ professional calculations, the drag from the small addition would cost around $200m–$250m extra in fuel a year.
Musk, put out that Starlink wouldn’t be featured on the Ryanair flights, countered, saying that the airline mogul was misinformed. But, O’Leary quickly pointed out, Musk is no aviation expert.
“What Elon Musk knows about flights and drag would be zero … I frankly wouldn’t pay any attention to anything Elon Musk puts on that cesspit of his called X.”
This caused Musk to react, and a trade of insults flew back and forth between the two men. They each called one another an idiot, and then Musk hopped on X. He asked the public, through a poll, if he should buy Ryanair.
The response was an overwhelming yes. However, as the Ryanair CEO reminded the South African billionaire, by law, he wouldn’t be allowed to own a majority share in a European airline. All the money in the world wouldn’t bypass the law. However, as O’Leary highlighted, he’s welcome to buy stock.
To add insult to injury, O’Leary announced at the press conference that the airline would have a sale in the name of Musk. Titled the Big Idiot Seat Sale, Ryanair is now selling 100,000 seats at the low price of €16.99. Promotional material for the sale shows O’Leary bashing Musk over the head with an ‘I Love Ryanair’ sign.
As a result of the tiff between O’Leary and Musk, sales of Ryanair flights increased, and the airline’s stocks took a small leap. The boost in revenue didn’t go unnoticed, and the Ryanair CEO thanked Musk for the free publicity.
