Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary expects the troubled Boeing 737 Max model to be approved by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to return to US service before Christmas, he said in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday.
The latest information that Boeing's major customer Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary has received is that the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will give its approval this side of the Christmas holiday.
”"I am therefore quite confident in saying that Max will be back for the 2020 summer season," he said.
However, the EU aviation authority has said that it will not rely on the FAA and Boeing individually but will also conduct a separate investigation into the airworthiness of the best-selling plane, which could lead to further delays.
”"The situation that has arisen is regrettable, at the moment we should have been able to fill parts of the capacity gap from Thomas Cook or, for example, if Norwegian Air were to go bankrupt within a few weeks," he said.
Ryanair is one of the largest single customers of the Boeing 737 Max, with 135 planes on Boeing's order book. Planes of the model crashed on two occasions shortly before the global flight ban was introduced. A faulty autopilot system that tipped the aircraft's nose down but which the pilots were not aware of has been pointed out as the cause. In total, the world's airlines have ordered more than 5,000 planes, of which competitor Norwegian accounts for 110.
Michael O'Leary did not want to speculate about compensation from Boeing before the model is back in service, but claimed that there is an ongoing dialogue with the aircraft manufacturer. If the operational restoration is delayed further and affects summer traffic next year, the company could be forced to make cuts and layoffs, the CEO said.
”The absolute worst thing that could happen is if the model is put back into service only to be withdrawn once again,” he said.
Michael O'Leary, who has sometimes been described as a provocateur in the industry, has a habit of predicting the collapse of Norwegian, the Norwegian low-cost competitor. In the long term, it is inevitable that four European companies will dominate the market. Within four to six years, Michael O'Leary predicts that four companies will have 80 percent of the market. However, there are currently no plans to carry out any acquisitions to fuel industry consolidation.
”"There are currently no plans to make any more acquisitions," said Michael O'Leary.
The Ryanair CEO also says that the company's transition to a group structure means that it could take in aircraft from Airbus in the medium term.
”"There will be opportunities, but at the moment there is no price difference on aircraft. The Max plane is grounded, Airbus prices are being raised, Boeing prices are being raised because they have nothing to sell," he told Reuters.
Source: news agency direkt-di.se
