In recent days, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary and Elon Musk have been getting into it, and the situation keeps escalating. What started as a debate over Starlink Wi-Fi has turned into the two billionaires calling one another idiots, and Musk even threatening to buy Ryanair in order to fire O’Leary. Ryanair is firmly in the “any publicity is good publicity” camp, and as a continuation of this feud, the airline has just launched a hilarious fare sale.
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Ryanair mocks Elon Musk with new fare sale
Ryanair has taken to X to promote how it has a new fare sale — the Irish carrier is saying “don’t thank us, thank that big ‘IDIOT’ Elon Musk.” The banner for the sale says that it’s “only available for Elon Musk and any other ‘idiots’ on X!!” O’Leary had recently called Musk’s X platform a “cesspool.”
The airline is selling 100,000 seats as part of this sale for travel in February, March, and April, starting at £16.99 including taxes & fees.
O’Leary is also apparently planning a press conference tomorrow in Dublin to “address/undress” the Elon Musk “Twitter tantrum,” as it’s described. O’Leary mentions how “Musk knows even less about airline ownership rules than he does about aircraft aerodynamics,” which is quite the dig, and a clear reference to Musk not even being able to buy Ryanair directly, even if he wanted to.
What a great opportunity all of this is for Ryanair
Ryanair is one of the world’s highest margin and most profitable airlines, and it’s incredibly well run. Ryanair has never shied away from controversy, and I don’t think the airline could be handed a more perfect opportunity than this confrontation with Elon Musk.
Elon Musk is certainly amplifying Ryanair, thinking somehow that’s going to harm the company. Musk doesn’t seem to understand that a) he’s not at all popular in most parts of Europe, so attacking him is viewed favorably and b) Ryanair thrives off controversy, and has no issues getting into these kinds of spats.
So Musk trying to badmouth an airline that literally relies on customers who are looking for cheap, nonstop flights, with no good alternatives, isn’t exactly a winning battle for him. But I’m sure Ryanair appreciates Musk writing about them to his 230+ million followers.
Usually I’m not a fan of these billionaire “pi$$ing matches” for lack of a better term, but the dynamics here are sort of hilarious.
Bottom line
It looks like the feud between Elon Musk and Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary isn’t quite over. The airline has now launched a fare sale for “idiots” like Elon Musk and others on X, as it’s described. O’Leary also plans to have a press conference tomorrow morning in Dublin, targeted at Elon Musk.
This whole controversy started over Starlink Wi-Fi, but is now about a lot more. I’m not sure Musk realizes the extent to which Ryanair loves this kind of attention.
What do you make of Ryanair’s “idiot” fare sale?
All these improbable converts who claim to suddenly "love" O'Dreary and just magically forget decades of shady customer service and sharp practice by Ryanair. And they're doing this not because O'Dreary is a terrific guy (hint: he isn't), not because Ryanair is a fantastic airline (hint: it isn't), but because they don't like Musk(!) Go ahead - hate Musk. But don't claim to like a POS because he also hates Musk. Here's a piece of...
All these improbable converts who claim to suddenly "love" O'Dreary and just magically forget decades of shady customer service and sharp practice by Ryanair. And they're doing this not because O'Dreary is a terrific guy (hint: he isn't), not because Ryanair is a fantastic airline (hint: it isn't), but because they don't like Musk(!) Go ahead - hate Musk. But don't claim to like a POS because he also hates Musk. Here's a piece of advice you guys badly need: the enemy of your enemy...is still your enemy. O'Dreary is not a better person, and will not treat you or your family and friends and colleagues better just because you both happen to hate Musk.
What shady customer service? I usually don't fly FR as their policies and overall experience don't suit me, but there's nothing shady about the airline. Their policies are strict but well-published and as long as you follow them, you won't have a problem. On those few occasions when I did take their flights, the customer service was on par or better than legacies (e.g. Lufthansa which is a disaster compared to FR).
Their IROPS handling isn't always ideal, but the same could also be said for other airlines...
@John
This is one of the most ridiculous posts I have read here for a while. Musk, is at a minimum- a fascist and should be avoided at all cost. That you took the time to extol the negatives of Mr. O'Leary and his organization, while blatantly avoiding mention of his opponent, screams your bias.
And no- I live in the USA and have never and have no intention of flying RyanAir. And yes, just as you dislike Mr. O'Leary, so I despise musk.
Relax. I don't think O'Leary hates musk. He just thinks Musk is an idiot.
This is so very funny. Musk is not the only super thin skinned “man” in the US right now. And both are destroying brand value at incredible speed
Embarrassing for both of them. Is this the type of behavior you’d like to see in men responsible for 10.000s of staff?
And, Ben, sorry to disagree. Ryanair might be profitable, but „well run“?? This is a company that takes pride in disrespecting their customers and making fun of them. Every European has witnessed over and over again Ryanair customers left alone, helpless, lost in cases of cancellations, bad weather, delays without connections. Customer...
Embarrassing for both of them. Is this the type of behavior you’d like to see in men responsible for 10.000s of staff?
And, Ben, sorry to disagree. Ryanair might be profitable, but „well run“?? This is a company that takes pride in disrespecting their customers and making fun of them. Every European has witnessed over and over again Ryanair customers left alone, helpless, lost in cases of cancellations, bad weather, delays without connections. Customer service: zero. Too expensive, obviously. This is your definition of a „well run“ company??
Just saw an old movie poster for a movie called 'Alien vs Predator' and the tagline for the movie applies here:
"Whoever wins, we lose."
Having said that, I hope Elon continues to get humiliated and I stan Michael O'Leary on this and this alone
lmao how am I supposed to hate on this company
O'Leary capitalizing on it as expected lol. Musk took the bait hook, line, and sinker and is just feeding Ryan Air's publicity machine at this point.
" 'Musk knows even less about airline ownership rules than he does about aircraft aerodynamics,' which is quite the dig, and a clear reference to Musk not even being able to buy Ryanair directly..."
I read that as a dig at Musk for not being able to keep his SpaceX rockets from exploding after takeoff.
O’Leary has no idea who he’s messing with. This will not well for the real idiot.
Whats Musk going to do? Take more ket?
Elon Musks net worth is nearly 500 billion dollars. He literally can do whatever he wants. O’Leary will be crying like a little baby soon
Can he stop being an idiot? Doesn’t seem the 500 billion dollars helps that?
No Idiot can accumulate $500 billion dollars. Sorry, but Elons intelligence is off the charts.
Trump is believed to be a billionaire and he's an idiot and a moron.
No, he can't do whatever he wants (E.g. kill people).
There are things called laws.
Maybe SpaceX can crash a Starship into O'Leary's house.
They have plenty of practise.
That’s brilliant. Well done!
But yeah Elon naively assumes his MAGA fanboys on X represent general public sentiment, so he is quite thrown off by this situation!!
I thought the latest Ryanair advert was funny, the Elon twist…classic
https://youtube.com/shorts/crD_uCULO0E?si=Rh93ksII5kj1Vf4M
First time I have ever given kudos to Ryan Air or O'Leary.
Well done.
Like you I'm normally not a fan of this but I can't help loving it. Musk is insanely thin skinned and immature and Ryanair is taking that to town.
To anyone that would want to fly on what equates to the flat bed of a chicken truck.
Largest non-US airline by passenger count (and number 3 overall) so i think they have no trouble findibg willing customers….
They're perfectly fine, for short flights anyway. They have a decent on-time record and run an efficient operation. Not luxury by any means, but also not as bad as a chicken truck.
Every time I read something about Michael O'Leary, I like him more.
Why couldn't Musk buy Ryanair?
EU rules forbid it.
The rules don't actually forbid him buying the company; just operating flights.
I'm hoping he does buy it; O'Leary and staff set up a new airline, and Musk is left with a zero-value investment!
He could buy it, but he would then have to shut it down, since Ryanair would lose EU traffic rights. To have a status of an EU airline, majority of shares must be controlled by EU nationals.
@Samo: Not stated in Musk's plan was his intention to get Orban to grant him instant Hungarian citizenship. Voila!
It is my understanding that Musk, could not buy and run Ryanair. Under EU rules and control laws, 50% + 1 share must be owned and controlled by EU nationals.
That’s hilarious!
First time I've ever been on Ryanair's side. Well done!