A public spat between Elon Musk and Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has intensified, after the airline dismissed the use of Starlink satellite internet over concerns about fuel costs and aircraft performance.
The dispute began after O’Leary criticised Musk’s Starlink venture, arguing that installing the technology would add drag and increase fuel consumption across Ryanair’s short-haul fleet.
Musk responded sharply on X, launching a series of personal attacks on the airline boss.
“Ryanair CEO is an utter idiot. Fire him,” Musk wrote, later claiming O’Leary had overstated the fuel impact “by a factor of 10."
Ryanair’s official X account joined the back-and-forth, mocking Musk on his platform by replying: “perhaps you need Wi-Fi @elonmusk?”
As the row gathered momentum online, Musk replied that he could simply buy the airline himself.
“Should I buy Ryanair and put someone whose actual name is Ryan in charge?” he wrote in response.
Ryanair has ruled out installing Starlink saying the external antennas required would increase drag and fuel burn.
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Musk said he doubted Ryanair could “measure the difference in fuel use accurately,” particularly on short flights, adding that any extra drag would be “basically zero” during key phases of flights.
