Michael O’Leary, CEO of Europe’s greatest airline, Ryanair, says his ongoing feud with tech billionaire Elon Musk has boosted the funds provider’s ticket gross sales.
“It is very good for our bookings,” O’Leary mentioned at a information convention in Dublin on Wednesday, highlighting the truth that the corporate has been operating a “Big Idiot Seat Sale” in latest days.
“We love these PR spats that drive bookings on Ryanair,” he mentioned, including that the airline would offer Musk a free ticket.
The squabble started after the Ryanair (RYAAY) boss mentioned on January 14 that he wouldn’t set up Starlink satellite tv for pc Wi-Fi expertise, which is made by Musk’s agency SpaceX, on the airline’s planes, on account of considerations over drag and an related improve in gas prices.
In a post on X the identical day, Musk mentioned O’Leary was “misinformed.”
“I doubt they can even measure the difference in fuel use accurately,” he added.
Musk additionally known as O’Leary “an utter idiot” and a “retarded twat.”
On Friday, O’Leary, who’s famously outspoken and identified for his ability in harnessing publicity, fired again throughout an interview with Irish radio station Newstalk.
“I would pay no attention whatsoever to Elon Musk. He’s an idiot — very wealthy, but he’s still an idiot,” he mentioned. “What Elon Musk knows about flights and drag would be zero.”
SpaceX, which Musk based, is a rocket producer and area transport companies firm.
NCS has contacted Ryanair and SpaceX for remark.
On Wednesday, O’Leary mentioned he took “no insult” from Musk’s feedback.
“As anybody with teenage children would know, you’re frequently called an idiot and a twat at home,” he mentioned. “I don’t need to go outside to be insulted.”
O’Leary additionally supplied additional particulars behind the choice to not supply Starlink web connectivity on Ryanair planes, as an rising variety of different airways have began to do.
“It is a very good system,” mentioned O’Leary. “The problem is if you put it on board aircraft, there is a cost.”
O’Leary estimates that it might price Ryanair round $200-250 million a yr in set up charges and elevated operating prices on account of gas drag brought on by the 2 antennae that must be put in on the fuselage of every of the corporate’s 643 planes.
Ryanair wouldn’t have the ability to get better these prices by charging passengers to make use of the service, in response to O’Leary.
Although Starlink claims that round 90% of passengers are keen to pay for web entry, the airline has discovered that lower than 10% would achieve this, he mentioned.
O’Leary additionally expressed his shock that the choice had resulted in a feud, which has additionally seen Musk increase the opportunity of shopping for Ryanair.
“Should I buy Ryan Air and put someone whose actual name is Ryan in charge?” he wrote on Friday.
“How much would it cost to buy you?” he wrote in one other reply to the airline that day.
On Wednesday, O’Leary mentioned that whereas non-European Union residents can not personal a majority stake in European airways, he would welcome Musk’s funding.
“We would think it’s a very good investment, certainly a significantly better investment than the financial returns he is earning on X,” he mentioned.
“And we want to thank him sincerely for the additional publicity.”