Ryanair’s chief executive, Michael O’Leary, has made an intriguing offer to Elon Musk’s Starlink: if the company agrees to cover the airline’s additional €250 million fuel bill, Ryanair would be willing to install Starlink’s wifi system on its aircraft. This comes after a public spat between O’Leary and Musk over Ryanair’s reluctance to adopt the satellite-based wifi service, as the airline believes that passengers would not be willing to pay for the service.
O’Leary explained that the installation of Starlink’s aerials on Ryanair aircraft would create additional drag, which would lead to increased fuel consumption. The extra €250 million would be added to Ryanair’s already significant €5.5 billion annual fuel bill. Despite this, O’Leary was open to the idea of incorporating Starlink into Ryanair’s fleet—provided Musk’s company was willing to bear the costs of this fuel penalty.
“If Starlink want to pay for the fuel drag, we would happily put it on board,” O’Leary said.
The back-and-forth between O’Leary and Musk has garnered significant attention. Ryanair’s chief executive confirmed that Ryanair had been in talks with Starlink and other wifi providers over the past year. While he praised Starlink’s system, calling it “terrific,” O’Leary emphasized that the cost of implementing it remained a barrier.
Though Ryanair has not completely ruled out installing wifi on its planes, O’Leary stressed that the decision would depend on whether the cost could be reduced by the developers of the system.
The tension between O’Leary and Musk escalated when Musk publicly insulted O’Leary, referring to him as a “retarded t**t.” In response, O’Leary quipped that the dispute had generated significant publicity, which led to a spike in Ryanair seat sales.
Aside from the wifi controversy, O’Leary also voiced concerns over government policy regarding Dublin Airport. He argued that lifting the airport’s 32 million-passenger annual cap was a key step in boosting jobs and economic growth, criticizing the government for not following through on promises made during the general election campaign 13 months ago.
Despite the ongoing tensions, the row has provided a boost in visibility for Ryanair, thanks to the viral nature of the public exchange.
