Ryanair group chief executive Michael O’Leary has said he has full “faith and confidence” in Boeing and its management and has said passengers are safe flying on their planes.
Mr O’Leary made the remarks in an interview with Sky News, after a Ryanair executive team – including Mr O’Leary – met with Boeing chiefs to discuss the US planemaker’s quality control levels.
It comes after part of the fuselage of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX-9 plane fell off in mid-air during a flight earlier this month.
The MAX-9 has been grounded worldwide until further notice; but Ryanair is unaffected as it only flies the 737 MAX-8 and 737 MAX-10 models.
“We don’t fly the MAX 9, so the issue doesn’t apply, there’s none of those aircraft in Europe,” Mr O’Leary told Sky News.
“Boeing make great aircraft. The 737 is the most audited aircraft in history, it’s the oldest and most secure plane in the air, we’re very proud to fly them and we’ve had no kickback or pushback from passengers flying on our aircraft,” the Ryanair CEO added.
Ryanair is also set to double the number of its own engineers on the ground at Boeing production facilities in Wichita and Seattle, at Boeing’s own request.
After the meeting with Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun, Mr O’Leary said he has confidence in the planemaker’s management team.
Mr O’Leary told Sky News: “I have a lot of confidence and time for the work that Dave Calhoun and Brian West, the chief finance officer, have done over the last two years. I think they’ve made very significant improvements. But there’s more to do…It is not acceptable that aircraft come out of Wichita, or aircraft get delivered from Seattle with anything wrong with those aircraft, and they need to be checking that all the bolts are secure, that all the fasteners are in the right place and the holes are in the right place.”
Mr O’Leary said the most recent plane deliveries from Boeing to Ryanair were “the best aircraft we’ve ever had from them.”
