RYANAIR CEO MICHAEL O’Leary is due to hold a press conference in Dublin today to speak about his ongoing online spat with Tesla boss Elon Musk, after both brash businessman have labelled each other idiots in an argument over aeroplane wi-fi. 

The row between the two CEOs was sparked after Ryanair said it would not be using Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service on its fleet of planes. 

O’Leary said that installing the satellite receiver for Starlink on Ryanair’s planes would cost too much and reduce fuel efficiency. 

The claim didn’t go down well with Musk, who said O’Leary was “misinformed”. The Ryanair boss then told Newstalk that Musk was an “idiot”. 

Musk has since threatened to buy Ryanair, even though EU law makes it impossible. 

EU regulations (Article 4) require that either an EU member state or a national of an EU member state hold the majority of shares in an airline if it is to operate within Europe.

Don’t thank us, thank that big “IDIOT” @elonmusk 👀

Sale now on👇https://t.co/0c6IvsKyyB pic.twitter.com/JAxRNzaYTa

— Ryanair (@Ryanair) January 20, 2026

In the latest back-and-forth, Ryanair announced a “Great Idiots” seat sale “especially for Elon and any other idiots” on the South African billionaire’s social media site X. 

.@elonmusk pic.twitter.com/c0rHEiJrIz

— Ryanair (@Ryanair) January 20, 2026

“Musk knows even less about airline ownership rules than he does about aircraft aerodynamics,” the social media post quoted O’Leary as saying. 

Ryanair said that O’Leary would “address/undress” the “Elon Musk Twitter tantrum” today. 

Twitter was the name of Musk’s social media site before he renamed it X.