Ryanair Faces Boeing 737 MAX Delays

Ryanair has announced it’ll be making several changes to its schedule.

The major low-cost European carrier says significant delays in acquiring aircraft from Boeing mean it cannot offer the service it would like in the short term.

The airline expected to receive 27 aircraft between September and December of 2023. However, due to delays at the Spirit Fuselage facility in Wichita, it’ll only receive 14 aircraft between October and December.

Notably, the airline also cites delays seen in Seattle for Boeing’s repair and deliveries that hurt the airline’s growth plans.

While the company has been forced to adjust its schedule and will notably acquire fewer aircraft than initially expected, it remains in close communication with Boeing.

Ryanair notes that it is working with Boeing closely to speed up deliveries for future aircraft potentially. This could include speeding up deliveries from January to May of 2024.

These flight cancellations will take effect from the end of Oct, and will be communicated to all affected passengers by email over the coming days. Passengers will be offered reaccomodation on alternative flights or full refunds as they so wish.

Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary

Suppose Boeing could accelerate deliveries for the airline. In that case, Ryanair believes it would be able to enter the Summer 2024 peak travel season with all 57 new deliveries as expected, although time will tell.

Ryanair says it’ll reduce the number of Charleroi-based aircraft by 3, and Dublin-based aircraft will decrease by 2. Additionally, it’ll reduce five aircraft across four different Italian bases, including Naples, Pisa, and Bergamo.

The low-cost carrier also notes it’ll be forced to cut aircraft from East Midlands, Porto and Cologne.