Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary Says Spat With Elon Musk Is Great for Business

CNN, CBS News, Reuters, and BBC contributed to this report.

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary is clearly enjoying his very public dust-up with Elon Musk – and he says the airline’s bottom line is, too.

Speaking at a press conference in Dublin on Wednesday, O’Leary said the back-and-forth with the tech billionaire has given Ryanair bookings a noticeable lift, helping drive sales during what the airline cheekily dubbed a “Big Idiot Seat Sale.”

“We love these PR spats that drive bookings on Ryanair,” O’Leary said, adding that the airline would even offer Musk a free ticket as a thank-you for the attention.

The feud kicked off earlier this month after O’Leary said Ryanair would not install Starlink satellite Wi-Fi – developed by Musk’s SpaceX – on its planes. O’Leary cited concerns that the equipment would add drag, burn more fuel and ultimately cost the airline far more than it could ever recoup.

Musk fired back on X, calling O’Leary “misinformed” and questioning whether Ryanair could even accurately measure fuel usage. The exchange quickly escalated into personal insults – something O’Leary says he takes in stride.

“I take no insult from it,” he said Wednesday. “Anyone with teenage children gets called worse at home.”

O’Leary, never one to shy away from publicity, later responded in Irish media by calling Musk an idiot himself and dismissing the billionaire’s understanding of aviation aerodynamics.

Behind the jokes and jabs, O’Leary insists there’s a serious business case for saying no to Starlink. While he praised the technology as “very good,” he said installing it across Ryanair’s 643-plane fleet would cost an estimated $200 million to $250 million a year, factoring in installation and higher fuel bills.

That expense, he said, simply wouldn’t pay off. Despite Starlink’s claims that most passengers are willing to pay for in-flight internet, Ryanair’s data shows fewer than 10% would actually open their wallets.

The spat took another turn when Musk floated the idea of buying Ryanair, joking online about putting “someone whose actual name is Ryan” in charge. O’Leary brushed that off, noting that European Union rules prevent non-EU citizens from owning a majority stake in European airlines.

Still, he said Musk would be welcome as an investor.

“If he wants to invest in Ryanair, we’d think it’s a very good investment,” O’Leary said, adding that it would likely perform better than Musk’s investment in X. “And we want to thank him sincerely for the additional publicity.”

For an airline built on low fares, sharp elbows and irreverent marketing, the clash with one of the world’s richest men seems to be playing right into Ryanair’s hands – insults, memes and all.