Come get your cheap ‘idiot’ seat

Ryanair’s latest marketing campaign would crush in a crowd of fourth graders. The budget European airline known for its offbeat PR stunts announced a “Big ‘Idiot’ Seat Sale” this week, after a very public spat between the company’s CEO, Michael O’Leary, and Elon Musk.

The pair have been name-calling each other after O’Leary said Ryanair wouldn’t adopt Musk’s Starlink internet. Per O’Leary, Starlink would cost Ryanair as much as $250 million a year between installation and increased fuel costs due to drag from the antennas the airline would have to add to its jets. O’Leary added that about only 10% of Ryanair customers would pay for in-flight wi-fi, since most of its flights are short:

• Musk responded by calling O’Leary an “utter idiot” and asking X users if he should buy the company and replace the CEO with someone named Ryan.
• At a press conference yesterday, O’Leary said, “I suspect he’s a bigger idiot than me, but nevertheless, he probably thinks I’m a bigger idiot than him.”

To capitalize on the verbal melee, Ryanair is offering flights for just £16.99 (~$23) to 100,000 customers in January, February, and March. O’Leary said that these kinds of PR spats are “very good for our bookings.”

Big picture: Musk has been trying to make Starlink the go-to wi-fi provider for cruising altitude, locking down contracts with 31 carriers around the world, including Lufthansa, Qatar Airways, and United Airlines.