{"id":250310,"date":"2026-01-17T23:49:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T23:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/250310\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T23:49:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T23:49:10","slug":"michael-oleary-in-war-of-words-with-elon-musk-over-starlink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/250310\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael O’Leary in war of words with Elon Musk over Starlink"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ryanair boss Michael O\u2019Leary has engaged in a war of words with Elon Musk, over the latter\u2019s internet company.<\/p>\n

Musk, the world\u2019s richest man, owns Starlink, a subsidiary of his SpaceX company, which provides high speed internet via its satellites.<\/p>\n

While the internet service is used by a lot of airlines, one skeptic is Ryanair\u2019s Michael O\u2019Leary<\/a>; who said that they wouldn\u2019t install the satellites due to the extra fuel it would require.<\/p>\n

\"\"Ryanair boss Michael O\u2019Leary has engaged in a war of words with Elon Musk, over the latter\u2019s internet company. Pic: Thierry Monasse\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Musk<\/a> hit back at Mr O\u2019Leary following the comments, saying that Michael is \u2018misinformed\u2019 about hypothetical fuel consumption, saying that he doubted Ryanair could \u2018measure the difference in fuel use accurately, especially for a one hour flight, where the incremental drag is basically zero during the ascent phase due to high angle of attack.\u2019<\/p>\n

Ever the outspoken one, Mr O\u2019Leary appeared on Newstalk<\/a> to discuss Musk \u2014 calling the billionaire an idiot who knows nothing about flight drag and how that would affect Ryanair.<\/p>\n

\u2018We\u2019ve already had Boeing confirm we have to put an aerial antenna on top of the aircraft; now, that will cost us about a 2% fuel drag,\u2019 he explained. \u2018Our fuel bill a year is five billion; it would cost us about $200, $250 million a year. In other words, about an extra dollar for every passenger we fly and the reality for us is we can\u2019t afford those costs.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"ElonMr O\u2019Leary branded Musk (pictured) , the richest man in the world, an \u2018idiot\u2019 \u2013 while Musk threatened to buy the budget airline. Pic: Stefani Reynolds\/Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u2018Passengers won\u2019t pay for free for internet usage; if it\u2019s free, they\u2019ll use it \u2013 but they won\u2019t pay one euro each to use the internet.\u2019<\/p>\n

Mr O\u2019Leary also took aim at Musk\u2019s social media network, X (Twitter) \u2014 with its built-in AI chatbot Grok recently being internationally condemned following controversy over its ability to undress women and children \u2014 calling X a \u2018cesspit,\u2019 and Musk \u2018an idiot. Very wealthy, but he\u2019s still an idiot.\u2019<\/p>\n

While Musk didn\u2019t appear on Irish radio to discuss the comments, he naturally took to his social media site to post several tweets against Mr O\u2019Leary; calling him an \u2018imbecile\u2019 and threatening to buy the low-budget airline.<\/p>\n

Should I buy Ryan Air and put someone whose actual name is Ryan in charge?<\/p>\n

\u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n

Following calls to buy the airline by his loyal followers, Elon made another jibe at Ryanair after their social media team joked if he needed some WiFi, following X\u2019s latest outage for tens of thousands of people on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u2018Should I buy RyanAir and put someone whose actual name is Ryan in charge?\u2019 Musk wrote, with former journalist Karl Brophy saying that it would be a genius exit strategy for Michael O\u2019Leary, who owns an estimated \u20ac1billion in shares in the company.<\/p>\n

Musk\u2019s potential purchase of the airline may have already hit a snag, however, as the majority of shares need to be owned by Europeans.<\/p>\n