Ryanair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary, humorously remarked that Elon Musk could join the “lengthy line” of individuals eager to hurl insults his way. This comment came after Musk, in an online spat over in-flight Wi-Fi, resorted to calling O’Leary various petty names.

The dispute began when Musk demanded O’Leary be dismissed for refusing to implement Starlink, Musk’s satellite system, for Ryanair’s internet services. In retaliation, Musk suggested he might purchase the budget airline as a form of retribution.

In a series of posts on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), Musk used offensive language to describe O’Leary, labeling him with derogatory terms typically associated with learning disabilities, calling him a “retarded t***” and an “insufferable, special needs chimp.”

During a press conference in Dublin, O’Leary, accompanied by his deputy Eddie Wilson, responded with a tongue-in-cheek “Big Idiot” sale, featuring a caricature of Musk looking displeased alongside a cheerful depiction of O’Leary himself.

O’Leary also expressed gratitude towards Musk for inadvertently boosting Ryanair’s bookings and providing free publicity. He even joked about sending a complimentary Ryanair ticket to Musk at the X offices in Dublin, leaving it up to him how to use it.

Brushing off Musk’s suggestion of acquiring Ryanair, O’Leary told the press he was puzzled by Musk’s extreme reaction to what he considered a “reasonably measured” decision to decline Starlink.

‘He resorted to insulting me on X, calling me an ‘idiot’. Yesterday he also rounded on me and called me a ‘retarded t***’,’ he continued.

‘All I would say to Elon Musk is he would have to join the back of a very, very long queue of people who think I am a retarded t***, including my four teenage children.’

On being labelled an ‘insufferable special needs chimp’, he added: ‘I welcome the accusation that I’m a chimp, it’s somewhat unfair on the chimp community, but chimp, chump, as long as it increases Ryanair bookings through January, February and March, it’s all good fun and entertainment.’ 

O’Leary said Ryanair would offer 100,000 low–price tickets in its ‘Big Idiot’ Sale – but that Musk would be given one for free that will be delivered to X’s Dublin offices.

This was, he said, ‘to thank him for the wonderful boost in publicity which has seen our bookings rise significantly.’

‘I take no insult at being called an idiot or a t***. As anybody with teenage children would know, I don’t have to go outside to be insulted.’

O’Leary also laid into X during the hour-long session, doubling down on calling a ‘cesspit’ alongside other social media platforms, and hit out at the anonymity granted to trolls on the site. 

Admitting he does not use social media himself, he added: ‘Am I happy for Ryanair to be on it? Yes, I am. We have to be out there, whether it’s on Facebook or Instagram or God help us, we’re on TikTok.

‘We have one of the biggest corporate accounts on TikTok, which I think, personally, is the greatest amount of rubbish I’ve ever seen. Talking airplanes, Jesus, is this what the world is coming to?’

He also criticised Musk’s Grok AI after it generated images of real women and children in a state of undress at the request of users – a feature that was removed only when regulators threatened to block the website across the globe.

‘The most recent controversy with Grok undressing children or undressing women is frankly offensive. That’s nothing to do with freedom of speech,’ he thundered.

The Ryanair boss has been feuding with Musk after saying he would not use the South African’s Starlink system to give budget airline passengers Wi-Fi. 

This prompted Musk to poll his followers on whether to ‘Buy Ryan Air [sic] and restore Ryan as their rightful ruler’. 

So far, the poll has received 900,000 responses, with 76.6 per cent responding that he should. O’Leary, famed for his outspoken nature, had a few choice words on why this was unlikely.

‘We noticed he was holding a poll on launching a bid for Ryanair. We’re a publicly owned company – he’s free to do so at any time,’ he said.

‘Non–European citizens cannot own a majority of European airlines. But if he wants to invest in Ryanair we would think it’s a very good investment – certainly a significantly better investment than the financial returns he’s earning on X.’

O’Leary told reporters that while he felt Starlink was a ‘very good system’, he could not justify the estimated €250million (£218m) in installation and added fuel burn due to aerodynamic drag. 

He added that this was not a sentiment reserved for Musk’s product: he was not interested in taking up satellite systems offered by competitors for the same reasons.

‘I don’t know why he took such umbrage over it,’ O’Leary told reporters on Musk’s reaction to his dismissal of the system.

‘We have been in discussion with Starlink, his satellite system, for over 12 months now. It is a very good system, we like the Starlink system, it works very well.

‘The problem is if you put it onboard aircraft there is a cost of about €200–250million a year including the cost of installation and then the fuel drag – you have to put not one but two aerials on top of the fuselage.

‘The Starlink people believe 90 per cent of our passengers would happily pay for Wi–Fi access. Our experience sadly tells us less than 10 per cent of passengers pay for access. Therefore we can’t afford to shoulder those costs.’

The ongoing spat over in–flight Wi–Fi began as O’Leary called the billionaire an ‘idiot’ and said he would not buy the South African’s Starlink satellite internet system.

‘I would pay no attention whatsoever to Elon Musk,’ he had told Ireland’s Newstalk.

‘He’s an idiot. Very wealthy, but he’s still an idiot… What Elon Musk knows about flights and drag would be zero.’

Musk responded to the comments with the suggestion: ‘Ryanair CEO is an utter idiot. Fire him’.

The official Ryanair account replied to one post, asking, ‘What is a propaganda you’re not falling for?’, with ‘Wi–Fi on planes’, which led Musk to claim O’Leary needs to be fired.

Tensions rose further after a widespread outage on X left users in the US unable to load feeds or post content.

Ryanair’s social media team seized the moment to mock Musk, posting: ‘Perhaps you need Wi–Fi, @elonmusk?’

While his own posts are widely taken to be provocative rather than serious bids, Musk’s takeover of X, formerly Twitter, began with a surprise offer to buy it after he built up a stake.

Ryanair is listed on the Euronext index in Dublin and its shares have a market capitalisation of about £26.5billion – valuing the firm at £8billion less than the £34.5billion Musk paid for what was then called Twitter in 2022.

The low–cost airline is expecting to fly 207 million passengers over the current financial year – and currently offers no Wi–Fi on board.

Emirates recently announced it was upgrading its entire fleet with ultra–fast Starlink Wi–Fi – making it the world’s largest international airline to offer the service across its network.

Passengers on select Emirates aircraft have been able since last November to stream, video call, game, work and browse social media for free.

The first of Emirates’ 232 Boeing 777 aircraft equipped with Starlink internet was scheduled to enter commercial service, with plans to accelerate installations across the carrier’s fleet at 14 aircraft per month.