Ryanair CEO Says United’s Boeing 737 Max Comments Were ‘Stupid’

09.02.2024 - 20:41 / skift.com / Scott Kirby / Stan Deal / Michael Oleary / Gordon Smith

Ryanair is proving to be a good friend in a crisis for Boeing. Last week, the Irish airline confirmed it is providing extra on-location production oversight for the 737 Max program.

On Monday, Ryanair’s CEO gave a ringing endorsement of Boeing’s leaders – but he wasn’t so kind to everyone. 

Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary was particularly outspoken about United Airlines. It follows comments last week from Scott Kirby, United’s CEO, who said his carrier was examining “alternative plans” for fleet options without the Boeing 737 Max 10. 

The Max 10 isn’t certified yet and United has more than 200 of them on order – it has already been waiting five years for the first deliveries of the plane. While it is considered highly unlikely that United would scrap such a large and important contract, Kirby’s comments did raise eyebrows among industry insiders, including O’Leary.

“I thought this comment out of United last week was stupid. If they want to hand over or cancel some of their Max 10 deliveries, frankly Ryanair will take them. We’d be very happy to take aircraft early.”

Ryanair currently operates the older Boeing 737-800, as well as a newer high-capacity variant of the 737 Max 8. It also has orders for the largest Max 10, however it is not due to receive the plane until 2027.

O’Leary claimed that there would be no shortage of other buyers for any Boeing 737 Max aircraft unwanted by U.S. carriers, including interest from “rapacious aviation lessors”.

“The stupidity of the United comments last week is that [Airbus] order books are full out to 2030… If [United] want to delay or cancel any of those Max 10s, Ryanair will be the first people into Seattle to talk to Boeing about taking those aircraft, although I suspect that there will be a queue of customers waiting to take [them], given how tight the OEM supply is between now and 2030.”

Kirby was not alone in his critique last week. Alaska Airlines CEO, Ben Minicucci, went one degree further and said in an NBC News interview that he was “angry” at the situation. Both executives said they maintained overall faith in the 737 Max program and its safety. 

The scrutiny followed a door panel on an Alaska 737 Max 9 blowing out in mid-air in early January. Despite Ryanair not operating any of the affected aircraft, O’Leary described the subsequent Max 9 grounding as “a disappointing setback.”

Stan Deal, CEO of Boeing Commercial Aircraft, has previously said the company was “deeply sorry for the significant disruption” caused by the recent 737 Max issues. The Max 9 is now returning to service following FAA-mandated inspections.

Although there wasn’t any specific mention of Stan Deal, O’Leary did find time to deliver a personal endorsement of Boeing’s Group CEO and CFO.