US technology chief Elon Musk has polled his followers on his social network
By late Tuesday, low-cost airline Ryanair had not responded to a request for AFP to respond to the survey that was published on Monday, with more than 900,000 participants.
Musk, who founded Tesla and runs Starlink – a satellite Internet system developed by his aerospace company SpaceX – has been suggesting for days that he could buy Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline.
He has also called for O’Leary to be fired, describing him as “a real idiot.”
The dispute between the pair, both known for their provocative outbursts, began after O’Leary gave an interview to Irish radio station Newstalk.
The Irishman ruled out using Starlink to equip his fleet with Wi-Fi, estimating that it would cost up to $250 million a year by increasing the resistance of the aerial antennas of his planes and burning more fuel.
Ryanair passengers would also not want to pay for internet service, he said.
“What Elon Musk knows about flight and endurance would be zero… Frankly, I wouldn’t pay any attention to anything Elon Musk puts in that cesspool of his called X,” he said.
“He’s an idiot; very rich, but he’s still an idiot,” he added.
Ryanair’s market capitalization stands at almost €30 billion ($35 billion).
However, European regulations require that an EU-based airline be majority owned by EU nationals (or nationals of other European countries).
Elon Musk shelled out $44 billion to buy Twitter in 2022, which he later renamed X.
