Ryanair’s CEO isn’t done bickering with the world’s richest man.
Michael O’Leary, the budget airline’s billionaire boss, said on Monday that talks with Elon Musk’s Starlink broke down because the SpaceX subsidiary thought the budget airline’s passengers would pay for internet access.
Speaking on an earnings call on Monday, O’Leary said the airline had “extensive discussions” with Starlink, which he said was willing to cover the costs of installing WiFi terminals on Ryanair’s airplanes.
However, the typically outspoken businessman then added: “Where the discussions broke down was they believe 60% of our passengers will pay for free WiFi, to which we said, ‘You have obviously never met a Ryanair fucking passenger in your life.'”
Ryanair’s decision not to install Starlink led to a very public fallout between Musk and O’Leary, and at least one of the men isn’t yet ready to bury the hatchet.
“I have no intention of making up with him,” O’Leary told Bloomberg TV after the call. “He thinks I’m an idiot. I know he’s an idiot.”
“If we can annoy him again, so much the better,” O’Leary said.
Musk hasn’t responded publicly to O’Leary on Monday, and SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ryanair is the world’s third-largest carrier by passenger numbers, and the largest in Europe, attracting customers with fares as low as 15 euros ($17).
Its no-frills business model relies on operating a high volume of flights and enticing customers with cheap fares, but charging for virtually everything else.
Starlink’s surge in popularity with airlines
Starlink has soared in popularity with airlines over the past year, and has signed deals with nearly 50 carriers.
Its high-speed internet service is usually offered free to passengers who only have to sign up for the airline’s loyalty program. However, O’Leary cast doubt on this regarding easyJet, the British budget airline that announced a Starlink deal last Monday.
“It is not clear to us whether they are going to give it away for free,” O’Leary said. “I understand the briefing is that they are going to charge passengers for it, to which I say, ‘Well, good luck with that.'”
EasyJet did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“I believe if it is free, some of our passengers will use it,” O’Leary told investors. “If it has to be paid for, there is no revenue model whatsoever.”
O’Leary first butted heads with Musk in January after making a similar comment. Musk then argued that Ryanair will lose customers to airlines that do have Starlink.
Over the next week, the two CEOs called each other idiots while Musk called for O’Leary to be fired and joked about purchasing the airline.
Ryanair used the publicity to launch a “Big ‘Idiot’ Sale” with 100,000 tickets starting at £16.99, or about $23.
O’Leary said on Monday that the spat generated up to $40 million of free publicity and bookings were up for two or three weeks afterward.
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