When Ryanair announced it wouldn’t be installing Starlink on its aircraft, the budget airline likely didn’t anticipate igniting a public feud with one of the world’s richest men.
However, it sparked a very public clash with Elon Musk, one that quickly escalated from a disagreement into a viral PR spectacle.
Ryanair recently stated that the company has ruled out installing Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet on its aircraft since it simply doesn’t make financial sense for its business model. The airline primarily operates short, one-hour flights, and installing satellite internet would require an external antenna that adds weight and drag to the aircraft. According to the company, that translates into higher fuel costs.
Speaking to Reuters, CEO Michael O’Leary laid it out bluntly: “You need to put antenna on fuselage: it comes with a 2% fuel penalty because of the weight and drag. We don’t think our passengers are willing to pay for WiFi for an average 1-hour flight.”
Ryanair even suggested that passengers could simply read a book instead.
Musk didn’t agree. He responded on X, claiming the airline was wrong about the fuel impact. Musk even attached an AI-generated Grok explainer to strengthen his case, claiming any incremental drag during ascent was “basically zero.”
That criticism prompted a sharp reply from O’Leary, who dismissed Musk outright. In a radio interview, he doubled down on Ryanair’s position and then went on to criticize Musk.
He said: “I would pay no attention whatsoever to Elon Musk. What Elon Musk knows about flights and drag would be zero.”
From there, the situation spiraled. Musk fired back with a series of tweets, calling out O’Leary and demanding he be fired.
Musk even floated the idea of buying Ryanair outright in numerous tweets.
“Should I buy Ryanair and put someone whose actual name is Ryan in charge?” Musk joked in another tweet.
Rather than backing down, Ryanair leaned fully into the chaos. The airline announced in a tweet a tongue-in-cheek press conference to “address/undress Elon Musk,” mocking what it called Musk’s “Twitter tantrum.”
They also launched a sale, offering 100,000 seats for €16.99 ($20.04) one way.
Musk escalated the drama further with personal insults on Twitter, calling O’Leary “the insufferable special needs chimp currently running Ryan as an accountant.”
However, Ryanair responded with the same irreverent tone, pointing out that O’Leary is, in fact, an accountant. They also added that his financial discipline has helped make Ryanair the third most profitable airline in the world in 2025.
Recently, O’Leary again dismissed Musk’s claims at a subsequent press conference. He thanked Musk for the “wonderful boost in publicity,” noting bookings had jumped 2 to 3% in recent days.
Additionally, O’Leary also reiterated that Musk couldn’t buy Ryanair due to EU ownership rules, though he quipped that Musk would be welcome to invest.
