Both Michael O’Leary and Ryanair, the Dublin-based low-cost airline that he has helmed as CEO since 1994, are now associated with a funny and often provocative wit that ended up becoming a core part of the airline’s social media strategy.
Everyone from Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and Sydney Sweeney to passengers who stand up before the seat belt sign has come off often become the subject of Ryanair’s mocking posts. Ryanair’s social media is also known to be self-deprecating.
The airline’s social media team leans fully into the “cheap” vibe associated with low-cost airlines with posts like “good morning to passengers who don’t expect business-class service for airfare cheaper than pizza prices” and replying with “we sell seats, not windows” to passengers complaining about window seats that are next to the wall.
‘Not a day goes by where we don’t think about charging for toilets:’ Ryanair
The latest viral post from Ryanair reminded passengers that “not a day goes by where we don’t think about charging for toilets.”
The post on social media platform Threads generated over 4,100 upvotes within 24 hours of being posed. The notion of eventually having to pay for using the bathroom on a flight is a common line said by travelers who feel that airlines are increasingly squeezing them for features that used to be and they feel should be included.
As of 2026, no major commercial airline currently charges for lavatory use aboard the plane. It is, similar to standing-room seats and “emotional baggage fees,” the frequent subject of various April Fool’s Day posts for airlines.
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There is a history of Ryanair trying to charge passengers to use the bathroom
O’Leary and Ryanair have, at one point in 2009, presented a plan to start charging passengers on very short flights €1 or £1 to use the lavatories as a way to “change passenger behavior so that they use the bathroom before or after the flight.”
The plan caused an outcry at the time and Ryanair never followed through on this proposal even amid the major cost-cutting and changes that came following the decline of the budget flight model in the 2020s.
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That said, Ryanair does periodically tease the idea on its social media channels. The last message of a “toilet usage fee” was teased on Facebook in March 2026.
With most Ryanair followers used to the jesting by now, some continued the joke with promises to “do it on the seat for free” and questions about whether the carrier is planning to “put weigh scales” so that it “can charge accordingly.”
The last few Ryanair jokes that were particularly well-received on the internet include a public feud with Elon Musk — after Musk insulted O’Leary to his millions of followers, the latter reciprocated by holding a “Great Idiots” fare sale in honor of Musk — and telling travelers than in 2026 it is time to “stop traveling in jeans” as a quip on those passengers who dress a little too casually.
Related: A European low-cost airline keeps insulting Americans
