Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has warned of a hit to the airline’s profits and fares will rise as aircraft manufacturers struggle to meet demand.
Boeing faces a further problem after a part fell off one of its 737-9 Max aircraft while being flown by Alaska Airlines last week.
United Airlines discovered loose bolts on its Boeing 737-9 Max aircraft during subsequent inspections as more than 170 of the type were grounded by US regulators for safety checks.
O’Leary told the Financial Times: “Capacity is heavily challenged … air fares, particularly peak summer, are going to be higher because there’s going to be less short-haul capacity around Europe.
“The real challenge for both Airbus and Boeing is they are both running behind on their plans to increase monthly production.
“A lot of that is supply chain pressures. I think that both Airbus and Boeing, certainly Boeing, need to significantly improve quality control.”
O’Leary added that Ryanair, which operates a fleet of Boeing 737s, had been hit by delivery delays on its new aircraft, which was likely to affect profits as the airline would not be able to carry as many passengers as expected in its next financial year.
Boeing declined to comment but issued an update on deliveries showing a total of 528 aircraft had gone to airlines in 2023, including 396 B737s.
Ryanair has about 400 aircraft on order with Boeing, although it uses different versions of the 737 than the one involved in the Alaska Airlines incident.
O’Leary estimated that Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers, was likely to be left up to ten aircraft short for this year’s peak summer season while full-year passenger numbers for its financial year beginning in April were expected to fall to 200 million from 205 million because of the delivery delays.
“It costs us, if you’re talking being down five million on 205 million passengers … probably two, two and a half per cent of profits,” he said.
“The 737 is fine. But it doesn’t need these kind of short-term reputational issues.”
His comments came as Boeing chief executive Dave Calhoun told staff at a company-wide safety meeting that the company would acknowledge “our mistake” and work with the US National Transportation Safety Board to discover the cause.
He admitted that the company had a “communications task” with its customers and added: “Moments like this shake them too the bone, just like it shook me.
“They have confidence in all of us and they will again but we are going to have to demonstrate by our actions, our willingness to work directly and transparently with them and to make sure they understand that every airplane that Boeing has its name on that’s in the sky is safe.”
He added: “We are starting from a very anxious moment with our customers. We simply have to deal with that reality.”
Boeing said: “We continue to be in close contact with our customers and the FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] on the required inspections. As part of the process, we are making updates based on their feedback and requirements.”