The Irish low-cost carrier has noted an improvement in quality after checking recent deliveries from Boeing.Recent events have once again seen the Boeing 737 MAX family of next-generation narrowbody twinjets brought under closer scrutiny. However, while the type is proving divisive at some carriers due to safety concerns, Irish low-cost giant Ryanair remains confident in the aircraft, and has even offered to take any canceled orders. After being grounded for some 20 months after a pair of similar fatal accidents, the
Boeing 737 MAX re-entered service in late 2020, and spent the next three years or so becoming a widespread presence in the skies. However, earlier this month, an incident in which
the door of an Alaska Airlines MAX 9 blew out inflight has caused the type, once again, to become the center of heavy safety scrutiny.This has raised wider concerns regarding the safety not just of the MAX 9 model in isolation, but, rather, that of the aircraft family as a whole. This may have substantial ramifications for the MAX 7 and MAX 10 models, which are yet to enter service. For example,
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby
recently stated that his carrier is "
going to at least build a plan that doesn't have the MAX 10 in it."
However, speaking today as the Irish budget airline reported its third-quarter financial results,
Ryanair Group CEO Michael O'Leary criticized Scott Kirby's comments as being unhelpful. According to the
Financial Times, he stated that:
"If United or any other airlines don't want to take their MAX 10 orders, we will be happy to step in."
Working with Boeing to ensure quality
According to data from
ch-aviation, United Airlines presently has some 277 examples of the Boeing 737 MAX 10 order, so a cancelation would certainly present a heavy hit for the US planemaker. Meanwhile, Ryanair itself has already signed up for 150 MAX 10s of its own, which, according to
FlightGlobal, will begin arriving at the Irish low-cost carrier in 2027. It also has another 69 MAX 8-200s on order.While the airline's first deliveries of the MAX 10 are several years down the line, with the jet's largest variant still yet to be certified for commercial service, Ryanair is also open to earlier deliveries. Indeed, the Financial Times adds that O'Leary plans to talk to Boeing about receiving the type sooner if other carriers step back.
Of course, it isn't all sunshine and roses when it comes to Ryanair's relationship with Boeing. Indeed, as noted above, O'Leary has called on Boeing to improve its quality control in order to prevent the costs associated with delivery delays from being passed onto the airline's passengers. However, he noted today that certain important steps have now been made in this regard, stating that:
"We continue to work closely with Boeing to minimize delivery delays and improve quality control in both Wichita and Seattle. (...) We visited Seattle in January and met with Boeing's senior management. Boeing is increasing its QA resources in Wichita and Seattle. We have run extra checks on our recent 737 deliveries and have noted improvements in quality with fewer delivery defects."
No long-term disruption expected
The door plug incident prompted airlines to ground their MAX 9s, with
Alaska Airlines estimating that
this would cost it $150 million. However, with the type neither part of Ryanair's current fleet nor its future plans, O'Leary adds that "
we don't expect [the groundings] to affect the MAX 8 fleet or the MAX 10 certification."
