Ryanair expects to be short by up to 10 aircraft for the peak summer season due to production line delays at Seattle, leading to a revised passenger forecast of 200m instead of 205m for the coming financial year.
CEO Michael O’Leary reported receiving only 11 of 27 Boeing MAX 8200 aircraft by Christmas, with doubts he will receive more than 50 of the 57 due by end of April.
Despite setbacks, Ryanair remains one of Boeing’s largest customers with about 400 aircraft on order, and does not operate the 737 Max 9 model recently involved in safety incidents.
Boeing reduced its 2023 aircraft delivery forecast from 400-450 to 375-400 due to supplier issues with Spirit AeroSystems.
Ryanair, with 224 unfilled B737 MAX orders, received 52 aircraft in 2023, 35 before the end of June, as production problems persist.
Boeing faces further delivery delays due to the grounding of B737-9s after a mid-flight incident, with a current backlog of 5,626 aircraft, potentially impacting profits due to lower passenger numbers.
Mr O’Leary predicts higher airfares due to reduced capacity, urging Boeing and Airbus to enhance production rates and quality control amidst supply chain pressures. He suggested that Boeing has been improving despite current challenges, emphasising the need to avoid further reputational damage.
“Capacity is heavily challenged. Airfares, particularly peak summer, are going to be higher because there’s going to be less short-haul capacity around Europe. Mr O’Leary called on both Boeing and Airbus to significantly improve quality control. “I think they’re working their way through the problems. The 737 is fine. But it doesn’t need these kind of short-term reputational issues. The real challenge for both Airbus and Boeing is they are both running behind on their plans to increase monthly production. A lot of that is supply chain pressures. I think that both Airbus and Boeing, certainly Boeing, need to significantly improve quality control.”
“So we’re going to be left five, seven, maybe 10 aircraft short for the peak summer season this year. It costs us – if you’re talking being down five million on 205m passengers – probably two, two and a half per cent of profits.”
