Elon Musk vs. Michael O’Leary is the first and most epic CEO spat of 2026. Ryanair’s O’Leary conducted an hour-long press conference in Dublin, Ireland today (complete video below).
However, it wasn’t just about his row with Musk. O’Leary first started with the aviation policies of the Trump Administration and how they are affecting Ryanair’s North American operations. But this is not our topic for today. We’ll jump to the more interesting part.
Both Musk and O’Leary think that neither person knows about aircraft and their aerodynamics. Both have called each other “idiot” publicly. This all started when Ryanair’s CEO refused to install Starlink satellite antennas on his planes. Reason: increased aero drag resulting in rising fuel costs.
SpaceX’s Musk, on the other hand, thinks that 90% of Ryanair’s passengers would want high-speed Wi-Fi through Starlink. O’Leary says it’s just going to be 10%.
Leveraging the widespread worldwide media coverage of the Musk vs. O’Leary spat, Ryanair released the Big “Idiot” Sale promotion (flyer above). The Irish airline is offering 100,000 seats at an affordable price of €16.99 ($19.90) in February, March, and April (first-come, first-served).
O’Leary confirmed that since he got Elon Musk’s attention, Ryanair has received a boost in publicity. Interestingly, the airline got 2% to 3% more reservations in the last 5 days. Ryanair’s CEO thanked Elon Musk for the increased bookings that the airline has received since the rivalry began.
“And, we want to sincerely think him for the additional publicity,” O’Leary said.
It has been a few hours since Michel O’Leary’s press conference, but Elon Musk hasn’t commented on it yet. Until his last X posts, he looked serious about buying the airline that has a market capitalization of $35 billion.
In his press conference, O’Leary said the addition of Starlink terminals on Ryanair’s aeroplanes would cost an additional $200-250 million a year. If Musk is ready to bear this cost, he will be more than happy to add Starlink to his airline. However, he did admit that Starlink is a great technology.
O’Leary confirmed that Ryanair has been in talks with other satellite internet providers like Amazon and Vodafone. However, the airline cannot bear additional costs as most of its flights are short-haul, and installing antennas increases aerodynamic drag on its jets.
Ryanair’s CEO also welcomed Elon Musk to launch a bid to buy the airline. However, according to European laws, a non-European citizen cannot hold a majority share in a European airline, O’Leary said.
“But if he wants to invest in Ryanair, we would think it’s a very good investment,” O’Leary stated. “Certainly, a significantly better investment than the financial returns he’s earning on at X,” he added.
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