Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary stated Monday that he does not want to make peace with tech tycoon Elon Musk after a long-running public spat that began in January.
The dispute kicked off after the budget airline refused to install Musk’s Starlink satellite internet systems on its aircraft after more than a year of negotiations. Ryanair argued that equipping low-cost aircraft with Starlink would not be profitable for the company.
Musk disputed the claim and said Ryanair was “misinformed” in its calculations about the profitability of installing Starlink on its aircraft. The exchange escalated when O’Leary called Musk “an idiot” on Jan. 15, prompting the SpaceX founder to label him “an utter idiot” the following day and called for his dismissal.
O’Leary said in an interview Monday he had no desire to reconcile with Musk. “I have no intention of making up with him. He thinks I’m an idiot, and I know he’s an idiot,” the Irish CEO told Bloomberg.
He added that he had seized on the opportunity with a “Big Idiot Seat Sale” earlier this year, with 100,000 tickets from £16.99 one-way, in a bid to mock Musk.
“He generated about $30-40 million worth of free publicity for Ryanair and our bookings went up for two to three weeks,” O’Leary told Bloomberg. “If we can annoy him again, so much the better,” he joked.