Ryanair CEO escalates Elon Musk feud, launches ‘Great Idiots Sale’ aimed at X owner

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary has poured fresh fuel on his increasingly public war of words with Elon Musk, unveiling a cheeky new promotion aimed squarely at the Tesla and X boss.The airline’s official X account announced the launch of a “Great Idiots Seat Sale”, mocking Musk amid an online feud that has played out across social media for more than a week and kept netizens glued to every barb. In a fiery post, Ryanair claimed O’Leary would “address/undress Elon Musk’s Twitter tantrum” at a press conference in Dublin on January 21, 2026, describing Musk’s latest comments as “Twitshit.”""Musk knows even less about airline ownership rules than he does about aircraft aerodynamics," said MOL." it added. Propagating that "perhaps Musk needs a break" the Irish airline announced the launch of a "Great Idiots seat sale" especially for "Elon and any other idiots on 'X'," urging people to "buy now before Musk gets one!!!"To drive the point home, the airline also updated its X header with a banner advertising 100,000 seats from €16.99 for travel in February, March and April along with a cartoon of O'Leary punching Musk with an "I love Ryanair" placard while the Tesla CEO held a mini Tesla in hand and promoted the sale. The airlines also made a post on the same with the caption: "Don’t thank us, thank that big “IDIOT” @elonmusk."The viral feud between Musk and Ryanair began on January 14, when O'Leary ruled out installing a Starlink internet device on the company's fleet of 650 jets. Explaining to Newstalk, that adding antennas to the jets would result in “2% fuel drag” and cost an extra $200m-$250m to its existing $5bn annual kerosene bill. “I would pay no attention whatsoever to Elon Musk. He’s an idiot. Very wealthy, but he’s still an idiot … What Elon Musk knows about flights and drag would be zero,” he added while talking to the Irish radio. Musk responded to the statement in an X post, adding that the interpretation was "misinformed", thus prompting a tit-for-tat exchange of insults, with each calling the other an "idiot." "Ryanair CEO is an utter idiot. Fire him," Musk posted on X. On Friday, he took the attacks up a notch by asking his X followers if he should buy Europe's biggest airline, valued at €30billion, writing: “Should I buy Ryan Air and put someone whose actual name is Ryan in charge?” He followed it up with a poll asking whether he should “Buy Ryan Air and restore Ryan as their rightful ruler”. After X faced a power outage across the US last week, Ryanair's X account mocked its billionaire owner, asking: “Perhaps you need Wi-Fi @elonmusk?” To which Musk replied, "How much would it cost to buy you?"The “Great Idiots Sale” now marks the latest—and most theatrical—chapter in a feud that has turned into one of social media’s most entertaining billionaire-versus-CEO showdowns.