<\/a><\/li>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n
An online spat between Elon Musk and Ryanair CEO Michael O\u2019Leary escalated sharply, turning a disagreement over in-flight internet into a full-blown public feud. The clash began after O\u2019Leary publicly rejected the idea of equipping Ryanair aircraft with Musk\u2019s Starlink satellite internet, arguing that the system was inefficient and commercially unviable for Europe\u2019s largest low-cost airline.<\/p>\n
Musk, known for responding aggressively to criticism, hit back by questioning O\u2019Leary\u2019s competence and even joking about taking over Ryanair. The exchange quickly gained traction online, drawing attention well beyond the aviation industry.<\/p>\n
Tensions rose further after a widespread outage on X, formerly Twitter, left users in the US unable to load feeds or post content. Downdetector recorded a sharp spike in complaints, and the disruption was reported by multiple outlets, including the New York Post. Ryanair\u2019s social media team, known for its sharp humour, seized the moment to mock Musk, posting: \u201cPerhaps you need Wi-Fi, @elonmusk?"<\/p>\n
Musk fired back with, \u201cShould I buy Ryanair and put someone whose actual name is Ryan in charge?"<\/p>\n
perhaps you need Wi-Fi @elonmusk<\/a>? https:\/\/t.co\/eq82qcLqKv<\/a>\u2014 Ryanair (@Ryanair) January 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n The feud traces back to Ryanair\u2019s refusal to adopt Starlink. O\u2019Leary said installing satellite antennas would impose a \u201c2% fuel penalty" due to added weight and drag, and argued that passengers on Ryanair\u2019s typically one-hour flights would not pay extra for Wi-Fi. Musk countered by calling O\u2019Leary \u201cmisinformed," claiming the drag impact was \u201cbasically zero" on short flights and warning that Ryanair could lose customers to rivals offering better connectivity.<\/p>\n The dispute turned personal when O\u2019Leary told Ireland\u2019s Newstalk radio that Musk was \u201cvery wealthy, but still an idiot," and described X as a \u201ccesspit."<\/p>\n While airlines such as Lufthansa, United and Hawaiian Airlines have begun rolling out Starlink-powered Wi-Fi, O\u2019Leary has maintained that Ryanair\u2019s ultra-low-cost model leaves no room for such add-ons if they threaten profitability.<\/p>\n <\/a>. Stay updated with the Latest World News and Global developments<\/a>, along with key India News and National updates<\/a>. Explore Politics<\/a>, City News<\/a>, Explainers<\/a>, and Expert Opinions<\/a> on News18. Join the fun, play games on News18<\/a>.\u00a0Download the News18 App<\/a> to stay updated!New Delhi, India, India<\/a>January 20, 2026, 15:23 IST world<\/a> Musk Vs Ryanair: Starlink Snub, X Outage And A War Of Words and .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Musk Vs Ryanair: Starlink Snub, X Outage And A War Of Words Curated By :News DeskNews18.comLast Updated:January 20, 2026, 15:23 ISTThe dispute became personal when O\u2019Leary told Ireland\u2019s Newstalk radi…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":7753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-haryana"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}