"O'Leary on Wednesday dismissed the idea of equipping any of Ryanair's more than 600 jets with Musk's Starlink, citing the impact of fuel costs from drag caused by the antenna and estimating the service would cost the airlines up to €200m a year. Musk responded on his social media platform X, saying that O'Leary was "misinformed" and arguing that Ryanair did not know how to measure the fuel impact of Starlink equipment."
"Speaking later to Irish radio station Newstalk, O'Leary said Musk knew "zero" about aviation and drag, calling the US billionaire an "idiot" and describing X as a "cesspit." Musk, whose company SpaceX operates Starlink, fired back on Friday. "Ryanair CEO is an utter idiot. Fire him." Musk posted on X. When a follower suggested Musk should buy Ryanair and dismiss O'Leary himself, Musk replied: "Good idea.""
"Airlines have become an increasingly important customer base for Starlink, a network powered by thousands of low‑Earth orbit satellites that aims to provide faster and more reliable in‑flight Wi-Fi. More than two dozen carriers - including United Airlines, Qatar Airways and Lufthansa - are rolling out the service across their fleets. While financial terms have not been disclosed, analysts view Starlink as a premium product likely to appeal primarily to long‑haul and full‑service airlines."
A dispute erupted after Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary rejected fitting Starlink on the airline's more than 600 jets, citing antenna-induced drag and estimating up to €200m in annual costs. Elon Musk called O'Leary "misinformed," challenged Ryanair's ability to measure fuel impact, and later publicly called for O'Leary to be fired. O'Leary countered that Musk knew "zero" about aviation and criticized X as a "cesspit." Starlink, operated by SpaceX, is being adopted by over two dozen carriers, with analysts viewing it as a premium in‑flight Wi‑Fi option suited to long‑haul and full‑service airlines.
Read at Irish Independent
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]