Ryanair expects no major delays to the delivery of Boeing’s newest 737 Max aircraft variant after certification of the jet was pushed back by regulators due to a software issue.
“We don’t know the extent of the issue, but we don’t believe it is significant or there will be a substantial delay,” chief executive Michael O’Leary said at a press conference in Poland on Tuesday, in the first comments from a major 737 Max customer.
The airline still expects to receive the first 15 Max 10 aircraft in the spring of 2027, which are needed to grow capacity by about 2 per cent or 3 per cent, he said.
The Max 10 is the largest variant of the 737 Max line.
The Max 10 was expected to be certified in coming weeks, a long-awaited milestone central to helping Boeing’s recovery from several tumultuous years. Instead, the Federal Aviation Administration is holding off on certification until it’s determined whether a recently flagged software concern constitutes a safety of flight issue.
Boeing previously said it had notified all 737 operators about a software glitch with the Max’s navigation system that could increase pilot workload during landing. The issue could occur when a pilot needs to abort a landing attempt. A permanent fix by Boeing was planned for 2028, but it is trying to accelerate the timeline.
Ryanair has one of the single largest orders for the highest-capacity variant of the 737 Max single-aisle jet, with 150 due for delivery starting from 2027. The budget carrier had 647, mostly Boeing, aircraft in operation as of July.
O’Leary last week dismissed investor concern about his pay, after close to 40 per cent of shareholders rejected the terms of his pay package, which could net him as much as €150 million, at the company’s agm.
Some investors who objected “didn’t think the targets were aggressive enough”, O’Leary told the Financial Times in an interview published on Wednesday.
“Ah lads, grow up ... these are very ambitious, very aggressive targets, and if they’re delivered, all of you shareholders will almost double your money from where the share price is today,” he said. – Bloomberg
