Michael O\u2019Leary has no intention of making peace with Elon Musk. Months after the Ryanair CEO and the billionaire publicly traded insults over Starlink Wi-Fi, O\u2019Leary has reignited the feud and revealed that the very public argument may have been surprisingly valuable for Europe\u2019s largest airline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking after Ryanair reported its latest financial results, O\u2019Leary said he had \u00ab no intention \u00bb of reconciling with Musk. His assessment of their relationship was even less diplomatic: \u00ab He thinks I\u2019m an idiot. I know he\u2019s the idiot. \u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Behind the insults, however, lies a serious disagreement about the economics of putting high-speed satellite internet on hundreds of low-cost aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The dispute began after Ryanair rejected the idea of installing Starlink across its fleet. O\u2019Leary has never argued that SpaceX\u2019s satellite internet does not work. In fact, he has repeatedly called it a good system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His objection is financial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ryanair estimates that installing external Starlink antennas could increase fuel consumption by around 1.5% because of additional aerodynamic drag. With jet fuel prices already putting pressure on airline costs, O\u2019Leary argues that even a relatively small increase becomes extremely expensive when multiplied across a fleet of more than 600 aircraft and thousands of daily flights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00ab Starlink is a very good system, but this technology comes with a 1.5% fuel penalty because of the aerodynamic drag \u00bb, O\u2019Leary told analysts, according to comments reported by Bloomberg and subsequently cited by Air Journal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The situation becomes even harder to justify from Ryanair\u2019s perspective because the airline doubts passengers will pay enough for Wi-Fi to cover that added expense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
O\u2019Leary said Ryanair held extensive discussions with Starlink and that SpaceX was willing to cover the installation of the terminals. The negotiations reportedly broke down over how many passengers would actually pay to connect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Starlink believed a large share of Ryanair customers<\/a> would be willing to purchase Wi-Fi. O\u2019Leary strongly disagreed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00ab If it\u2019s free, some of our passengers will use it. If they have to pay, there\u2019s no revenue model \u00bb, he told investors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n