Elon Musk might have just walked straight into a trap.
Ryanair’s marketing team and CEO Michael O’Leary have spent years courting controversy as a promotional strategy. Provoking the world’s richest person might win them the most attention yet.
What started as a critique of Musk’s Starlink has proliferated into a weeklong war of words. The salvos included the pair calling each other idiots, before the airline launched a “Big ‘Idiot’ Sale” with $23 tickets.
Musk may well be known for being outspoken and his attempts at humor, but in O’Leary, he’s going up against a master who has played the role for decades.
Birgir Jónsson, a former CEO of Icelandic budget airline Play, said he’s a “big admirer” of O’Leary.
“He never misses an opportunity to stay on brand and remind customers that they are getting the best deal,” he told Business Insider. “Poor Elon Musk never knew what hit him and is now inadvertently helping Ryanair promote its January sale.”
O’Leary has been CEO for over 30 years, leading Ryanair to become Europe’s biggest airline by passenger numbers. His 4% stake is worth over $1 billion, but he’s perhaps better known for his profanity and antics.
“He knows exactly what he’s doing when he says something outrageous or provocative,” said Marc Cornelius, the founder and CEO of 8020 Communications. “Annoyingly, it saves him millions in PR and advertising because he instantly creates must-write stories.”
Unlike US budget airlines, such as its inspiration, Southwest Airlines, Ryanair is turning a healthy profit with an average airfare of around 40 euros ($47).
As well as selling add-ons and being strict about luggage allowances, Ryanair keeps costs low by focusing on quick turnarounds between flights. Boeing builds planes for Ryanair with fold-out stairs so passengers can deplane without waiting for airport ground workers.
“You might not love them, but they know that and are fine with it,” Cornelius told Business Insider.
“O’Leary has been a stuntman for decades,” said Rob Britton, a former American Airlines executive and adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.
The best-known example came in 2009, when O’Leary told the BBC he was considering installing a coin slot on bathroom doors so passengers would have to spend £1 ($1.34) to use them.
“Was he serious? Was he kidding? The whole controversy stayed in the news for weeks, if not months,” Britton told Business Insider.
He also pointed to how, in 2003, O’Leary was reported to have bought a taxi license, so he could drive it through Dublin’s bus lanes and avoid traffic.
Over the years, O’Leary has disparaged several nationalities and regularly derides politicians. According to The Guardian, he once said: “The airline industry is full of bullshitters, liars and drunks. We excel at all three in Ireland.”
However, his blunt style doesn’t seem to be a round-the-clock habit.
Hans Jørgen Elnæs, an aviation analyst and advisor who spent a year working at Ryanair between 2015 and 2016, told Business Insider, “That is his personality when in business mode, and he gets away with it all the time.”
But away from business, he said, O’Leary “is not a gladiator but a really good fellow.”
In the feud with Musk, the Irishman has made clear that — at least from his corner — it’s lighthearted teasing.
“As long as it increases Ryanair bookings […] it’s all good fun and entertainment,” he said in a Wednesday press conference.
“I have four teenage children, so there is nothing that Elon Musk can say to me that my teenage kids haven’t already said to me,” he added. “I’m well able to take my own medicine.”
O’Leary also said he’s continuing discussions with Starlink and other in-flight WiFi providers.
Ryanair is not just a one-man show, though.
Elnæs said O’Leary is “no longer alone,” thanks to the airline’s social media team.
Ryanair’s X account helped egg on Musk. The billionaire replied to its posts undermining the efficacy of in-flight WiFi, and a press release announcing the sale.
Posts mocking its own passengers often go viral, too. A frequent target is anyone who mentions leg room. Tag the airline, and you risk a flippant roast.
“By openly making fun of their customers, they reinforce that same value-for-money message in a way that cuts through the noise and stays unmistakably on brand,” Jonsson said.
Ryanair didn’t respond to a request for comment on its marketing strategy.
Musk’s main quip came when he polled X users on whether he should purchase Ryanair and install a CEO named Ryan. But European Union regulations mean the bloc’s airlines must be majority-owned by EU nationals.
O’Leary’s time at the helm might not last for much longer, anyway. He told the Financial Times last year that he plans to retire in the next five to 10 years.
“I don’t want to hang around till 96 like Buffett,” said the 64-year-old.
Cornelius, whose PR firm specializes in aviation and travel, said that Ryanair’s style risks being “a bit one-dimensional” and misses some broader ways to engage passengers.
“They will need a different approach when Michael eventually steps down,” he said. “But I don’t see him losing much sleep about that for now.”
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