“An absolute idiot.” Fierce counters between Elon Musk and Ryanair boss over the cost of Starlink Wi-Fi in planes
On a Ryanair plane. Photo credit: philipus / Alamy / Profimedia
Billionaire Elon Musk on Friday called Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary an “absolute idiot” who should be fired, escalating a public row that began after the airline boss ruled out installing Musk's Starlink internet service on Ryanair planes, Reuters reports.
On Wednesday, O'Leary rejected the idea of equipping any of Ryanair's more than 600 planes with Musk's Starlink, citing the impact of additional fuel costs caused by the antenna and estimating that the service would cost airlines up to $250 million a year.
Musk responded on his social media platform X, saying O'Leary was “misinformed” and claiming Ryanair did not know how to measure the impact of Starlink equipment on fuel consumption.
Speaking later in an interview on Irish radio station Newstalk, O'Leary said Musk knew “absolutely nothing” about aviation, calling the American billionaire an “idiot” and describing the X as a “scumbag”.
Elon Musk, whose company SpaceX operates the Starlink satellite internet service, fired back on Friday.
“The CEO of Ryanair is a complete idiot. Fire him,” Musk posted on X. When a follower suggested that Musk should buy Ryanair and fire O'Leary himself, Musk replied: “Good idea.”
Airlines have become an increasingly important customer base for Starlink, a network powered by thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit that aims to provide faster and more reliable in-flight Wi-Fi service.
More than 20 airlines, including United Airlines, Qatar Airways and Lufthansa, implement this service on their fleets.
Although financial terms have not been made public, analysts see Starlink as a premium product, attractive primarily to long-haul, full-service airlines.
The Irish low-cost company Ryanair is the largest airline in Europe in terms of annual passenger numbers. Michael O'Leary has been chief executive of Ryanair since 1994.
