Elon Musk took aim at Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary on Friday, calling him an “utter idiot” and saying he should be fired. The clash stems from O’Leary’s decision earlier this week to reject Musk’s Starlink internet service for the airline’s fleet.

O’Leary dismissed the idea on Wednesday, arguing that installing Starlink on Ryanair’s more than 600 planes would be too costly, potentially up to $250 million annually, and could increase fuel expenses due to drag from the antennas.

Musk fired back on his social media platform X, insisting that O’Leary was “misinformed” and claiming that Ryanair didn’t know how to properly assess the fuel impact of Starlink equipment.

Later, speaking to Irish radio station Newstalk, O’Leary hit back, saying Musk knew “zero” about aviation and drag. He also called the U.S. billionaire an “idiot” and described X as a “cesspit.”

The feud escalated on Friday, with Musk, whose company SpaceX runs Starlink, responding once again “Ryanair CEO is an utter idiot. Fire him,” Musk posted on X. When a follower suggested he should just buy Ryanair and fire O’Leary himself, Musk replied: “Good idea.”

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The spat comes as airlines are becoming a key customer for Starlink, SpaceX’s network of thousands of low-Earth orbit satellites designed to offer faster, more reliable in flight WiFi. Over two dozen carriers, including United Airlines, Qatar Airways, and Lufthansa, are already rolling out the service across their fleets.

Although the financial details have not been made public, analysts say Starlink is positioned as a premium offering, most likely to attract long-haul and full-service carriers.

On Friday, January 16, social media platform X experienced an outage that left users frustrated. Many reported being unable to post or check their feeds, with disruptions noted across multiple regions, including the United States and India. Downdetector tracked the spike in complaints, highlighting the scale of the outage.

Ryanair took a jab at Elon Musk during the outage, mocking the billionaire with a post that read: “Perhaps you need Wi-Fi, @elonmusk?” Musk fired back, doubling down: “Should I buy Ryanair and put someone whose actual name is Ryan in charge?”

The exchange quickly went viral, sparking a flood of memes, jokes, and playful speculation from other X users.