Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has challenged Elon Musk to an arm-wrestling match to settle a public feud over Starlink wifi on the airline’s fleet. The dispute began when O’Leary rejected fitting Starlink to Boeing 737s due to engineering complexity and aerodynamic drag, leading to a war of words on social media.
Musk, owner of Tesla, SpaceX and X, suggested he might buy Ryanair, prompting O’Leary to retort that Musk “knows even less about airline ownership rules than he does about aircraft aerodynamics.” The idea of an arm-wrestling contest was proposed by The Independent during an interview with O’Leary, who called it “a brilliant idea” and suggested settling the matter “like two idiots should: two old farts arm wrestling.”
O’Leary drew a parallel to 1992, when Southwest Airlines co-founder Herb Kelleher arm-wrestled a rival over a slogan dispute. Meanwhile, Ryanair has launched a seat sale “only available for Elon Musk and any other ‘idiots’ on X,” aiming to encourage people to travel rather than “posting anonymous rubbish on social media platforms.”
The Ryanair boss described X as “a cesspit” but said he would not remove the airline’s account. He also ruled out buying a Tesla, stating his favourite vehicle is a Landini tractor. Musk has been offered a free Ryanair ticket as part of the ongoing spat.
