Overview
- Elon Musk called Michael O’Leary an “utter idiot” and posted “Fire him” on X after the Ryanair chief rejected Starlink for the carrier’s fleet.
- Ryanair’s account mocked an X outage with “perhaps you need Wi‑Fi @elonmusk?”, prompting Musk to joke about buying the airline and installing a CEO named Ryan.
- Polymarket traders priced a Musk purchase of Ryanair at roughly 9% odds, signaling skepticism that a takeover will happen.
- Ryanair cites about a 2% fuel‑burn hit and annual costs of $200–$250 million, saying short‑haul passengers won’t pay for onboard internet across its 600+ 737s.
- SpaceX counters that its data shows roughly a 0.3% fuel impact on a 737‑800, with Musk suggesting it could be reduced below 0.1%, as carriers like Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, United, and Emirates roll out Starlink.