The Irish low-cost airline Ryanair was forced to reduce its winter program by designating delivery delays as the main cause of this problem. More than a dozen Boeing planes will not be able to join its fleet on time this year.
Ryanair, which is one of Boeing’s largest customers, said in a statement on Thursday that it expected to receive delivery of 27 planes between September and December, but this number is now reduced to 14 devices between October and December. THE flight cancellations will take effect from the end of October and will be communicated to all affected passengers by email in the coming days, the airline said. Ryanair will offer them another flight or a refund. Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers, however, said its full-year traffic forecast was unaffected ” for the moment “.
“At this early stage, we do not believe these delivery delays will materially affect our full-year traffic target. 183.5 million of passengers”, said Michael O’Leary, chief executive of Ryanair. “But if delays worsen or extend further into the period January-March 2024, we may need to review this figure and possibly adjust it slightly downward. » Ryanair had already revised its annual forecasts downwards 185 million passengers in July, citing possible delays by Boeing, as well as the impact of air traffic control strikes.
O’Leary has consistently criticized Boeing throughout last year for delays that impacted deliveries through its key summer 2023 season, but buried the hatchet in May with a multi-billion deal. dollars for up to 300 Boeing planes. Ryanair executives said deliveries had “significantly improved” before Boeing discovered a production defect last month that slowed deliveries of its best-selling plane, the 737 MAX. The latest problem, discovered late last month, concerns mounting holes on the rear pressure bulkhead of the 737 MAX which were incorrectly drilled and therefore misaligned Approximately 75% of 220 737 MAX in stock with the aircraft manufacturer will need to be reworked, and the repair will take longer than another previous problem involving loose supports on the vertical tail of the single-aisle.
The budget airline said the flight cuts would affect the airport in Charleroi in Belgium (3 planes removed), Dublin in Ireland (2 planes canceled) and Italian airports including Bergamo, Naples And Pisa (5 planes removed in four Italian bases in total). There will also be discounts at the airportEast Midlands in the United Kingdom, Port in Portugal and Colognein Germany. “We are working closely with Boeing and their supplier, Spirit, to minimize these delivery delays”said Michael O’Leary. “It is deeply regrettable that production issues in Wichita and Seattle have once again delayed Boeing’s contractual deliveries to Ryanair this winter. We are in regular dialogue with Boeing and our main objective is to secure the delivery of the 57 B737 aircraft under contract before the end of May 2024, so that the Ryanair fleet can reach over 600 aircraft for what will be our largest flying program never recorded. »
