Ryanair boss has revealed that the air carrier will be seeking compensation for flight cancellations caused by quality issues and production delays. Picture: Jean-Paul Pelissier
Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary has blasted the "debacle" at United States plane maker Boeing, and said that the low-cost carrier will seek compensation for flight cancellations caused by quality problems and production delays.
Speaking to reporters at the airline's Dublin headquarters on Friday, O'Leary said a recent incident at Boeing has led to production delays that are affecting deliveries to airlines, including Ryanair.
In early January, a door blew out from the cabin of a Boeing 737 MAX 9 plane during an Alaska Airlines flight. The incident resulted in only a few minor injuries.
The US authority the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) subsequently suspended flights of 171 from 218 737 MAX 9 aircraft already delivered.
A preliminary report by the US Transportation Safety Agency (NTSB) concluded that four bolts that were supposed to block the door were missing.
Ryanair's O'Leary said that the carrier expects to receive "modest compensation" from Boeing.
Its contracts with Boeing take into account "excusable delays" said O'Leary, but "if you're drilling the holes in the wrong places, and then you are delaying the delivery... it's inexcusable".
"There's nothing fundamentally wrong with the aircraft, the avionics, the engines, all the big bits work, (but) Boeing need to fix... a poor approach to quality control," he said.
Ryanair expects to receive only 40 or 45 aircraft for the summer from Boeing instead of 50, O'Leary added.
The hold-ups, coupled with the impact of the Israel-Hamas war that erupted in October, have led to flight cancellations and a cut in Ryanair's passenger target.
O'Leary predicted that the airline will carry 183.5 million passengers in its fiscal year that runs to the end of March.
That compared with prior estimates of 185 million.
The outspoken boss warned on Friday that the number of passengers under pressure is likely to result in "higher fares across Europe this summer".
According to O'Leary, Ryanair's fares increased by an average of 23% last summer, and he estimated that this year they should increase by "5 to 10%".
Ryanair said in January that it had soaring costs during its third quarter -- in particular jet fuel costs, salaries and airport taxes -- which would weigh on profit and led the company to revise downwards its annual profit forecast for 2023-2024.
Ryanair is scheduled to publish annual earnings in May.
IOL