comments Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has joked that Elon Musk can join 'the back of a very, very long queue of people' who want to insult him after the billionaire called him a series of petty names online in a feud over plane Wi–Fi. Musk demanded group CEO O'Leary's sacking after he refused to adopt the billionaire's Starlink satellite system for onboard internet - and suggested he could buy the budget airline as payback. He also used derogatory terms for people with learning disabilities to describe the aviation boss, calling him a 'r****ded t***' and an 'insufferable, special needs chimp' in recent posts on social network X, formerly Twitter. At a press conference in Dublin this morning alongside his number two, Eddie Wilson, O'Leary fired back, launching a 'Big Idiot' sale with a pained–looking caricature of Musk as its mascot alongside a grinning depiction of himself. He also thanked Musk for giving his company a 'significant' boost in bookings and free publicity. He says he will deliver a free Ryanair ticket to the X offices in Dublin for Musk to use as he sees fit. Quickly dismissing suggestions that Musk could take over Ryanair, as the billionaire had suggested, O'Leary told reporters he could not understand why Elon Musk had taken such offence to his 'reasonably measured' rejection of Starlink. 'He resorted to insulting me on X, calling me an "idiot". Yesterday he also rounded on me and called me a "r****ded t***,"' he continued. 'All I would say to Elon Musk is he would have to join the back of a very, very long queue of people who think I am a r****ded t***, including my four teenage children.' Michael O'Leary promotes Ryanair's 'Big Idiot Sale' with a picture mocking Elon Musk in Dublin Elon Musk (pictured in 2023) suggested he could buy budget airline Ryanair in his latest jab towards the airline's CEO In a series of posts on X replying to an official airline post, the world's richest man Elon Musk said Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary 'needs to be fired' and called him a 'r****ded t***' On being labelled an 'insufferable special needs chimp', he added: 'I welcome the accusation that I'm a chimp, it's somewhat unfair on the chimp community, but chimp, chump, as long as it increases Ryanair bookings through January, February and March, it's all good fun and entertainment.' O'Leary said Ryanair would offer 100,000 low–price tickets in its 'Big Idiot' Sale – but that Musk would be given one for free that will be delivered to X's Dublin offices. This was, he said, 'to thank him for the wonderful boost in publicity which has seen our bookings rise significantly'. 'I take no insult at being called an idiot or a t***. As anybody with teenage children would know, I don't have to go outside to be insulted.' O'Leary also laid into X during the hour-long session, doubling down on calling a 'cesspit' alongside other social media platforms, and hit out at the anonymity granted to trolls on the site. Admitting he does not use social media himself, he added: 'Am I happy for Ryanair to be on it? Yes, I am. We have to be out there, whether it's on Facebook or Instagram or God help us, we're on TikTok. 'We have one of the biggest corporate accounts on TikTok, which I think, personally, is the greatest amount of rubbish I've ever seen. Talking airplanes, Jesus, is this what the world is coming to?' He also criticised Musk's Grok AI after it generated images of real women and children in a state of undress at the request of users - a feature that was removed only when regulators threatened to block the website across the globe. 'The most recent controversy with Grok undressing children or undressing women is frankly offensive. That's nothing to do with freedom of speech,' he thundered. The Ryanair boss has been feuding with Musk after saying he would not use the South African's Starlink system to give budget airline passengers Wi-Fi. This prompted Musk to poll his followers on whether to 'Buy Ryan Air [sic] and restore Ryan as their rightful ruler'. Ryanair's homepage features a caricature of Musk and O'Leary on its homepage promoting the Big Idiot seat sale O'Leary, seen here arriving at the press conference in Dublin, told reporters that Musk could not buy Ryanair even if he wanted to So far, the poll has received 900,000 responses, with 76.6 per cent responding that he should. O'Leary, famed for his outspoken nature, had a few choice words on why this was unlikely. 'We noticed he was holding a poll on launching a bid for Ryanair. We're a publicly owned company – he's free to do so at any time,' he said. 'Non–European citizens cannot own a majority of European airlines. But if he wants to invest in Ryanair we would think it's a very good investment – certainly a significantly better investment than the financial returns he's earning on X.' Elon Musk threatens to buy Ryanair and 'put a man called "Ryan" in charge' amid feud with Michael O'Leary - after budget airline refused to install his Starlink system on its planes