Low-cost carrier Ryanair has been forced to revise down its passenger traffic forecasts for next year due to expected delays in the delivery of aircraft from Boeing, the group’s chief executive told Reuters.
The move comes as an ongoing strike at Boeing has raised concerns about worsening delays at the planemaker, which has already faced challenges with deliveries for much of this year and even as the company grapples with a wider crisis.
“We were supposed to have 20 deliveries before the end of December. They will probably come in January and February now, and that’s fine. We will have them in time for next summer.
The big issue for Ryanair is that we have to take delivery of 30 aircraft in March, April, May and June next year and how many of those are we going to take?’ Michael O’Leary said in an interview with Reuters.
“I think we’re clearly going to pull back the traffic growth for next year because I don’t think we’re going to get all 30 aircraft,” he added.
The comments from Europe’s biggest low-cost airline are among the most pointed yet about capacity constraints in the sector, as Boeing and Airbus struggle to meet delivery targets at a time when the supply chain is in trouble.
Michael O’Leary said that in his 30 years in the business he had never seen capacity constraints on the current stretch.
We want to avoid next year what we had this year. We had prepared, we had manned the 50 aircraft, and then we only got 30 …. we were overcrowded, overstaffed. We took a significant cost penalty this year,” he added.
Problems in other companies too
The comments from the Ryanair “boss” come after Emirates chairman Tim Clark said the Middle Eastern carrier would have “a serious discussion” with Boeing over delivery delays linked to the 777X.
Michael O’Leary said he had regular conversations with Boeing Chief Operating Officer Stephanie Pope about the delivery delays and was set to meet with Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg in the coming weeks.
He said talks with the US airline are focused on “where we are in terms of certification, … the certification of the MAX 10,” referring to the new version of Boeing’s best-selling narrow-body aircraft.
He also praised Boeing’s handling of its labor unrest to date. “I think the announcement of the job cuts is the logic to bring the unions to some place where they will make a deal,” he said.
SOURCE: ot.gr
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