At the Aviation Summit 2024, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary disclosed that their engineers have found spanners belonging to Boeing in their new 737 MAXs.
Such a revelation mentioned by O’Leary comes amid the continued criticism over safety and quality standards.
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
Ryanair Findings on their Boeing 737 MAXs…
At the Aviation Summit 2024, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary had this to say regarding recent deliveries of their 737 MAX aircraft:
“[The airline has] 30 engineers in Seattle and Wichita doing inspections, and whenever we take delivery of a new aircraft, we do a 48-hour inspection in Dublin.”
“We find little things like spanners under floors and handles missing on seats which we wouldn’t really expect to find on a $100m piece of kit.”
“I have confidence in David Calhoun, the Boeing CEO.”
“[We] have confidence in Brian West, the Boeing CFO. I have less confidence in the management in Seattle.”
Furthermore, the other worrying aspect was handles missing on seats, which is raising more concerns.
Genuine Concerns?
Such concerns are genuine for a customer like Ryanair, who expects better quality and standards on their Boeing 737 MAXs.
O’Leary has this week criticised the American planemaker throughout his attendance in these events.
Talking to Skift, he criticised the President and CEO of the Commercial Airplanes wing, Stan Deal:
“Do I have confidence in Stan Deal is the wrong question.”
“I think Stan Deal has to demonstrate that he is capable of turning around the operation in Seattle.”
“What Boeing needs in Seattle is not necessarily a sales guy.”
“They need someone who is going to sit there on a daily basis and do the grind. [Asking] what’s the delay, what’s the problem, and fixing the supply chain.”
“Boeing needs leadership. Stan [Deal] needs to get his finger out.”
“He needs to sit in Seattle on a daily basis producing aircraft.”
“They don’t need sales, they’re fully sold out until 2030 anyway.”
Such words from O’Leary represent a more scathing perspective towards the American planemaker & the 737 MAX.
Overall…
In conclusion, such findings for Ryanair will no doubt be addressed as the FAA continues oversight on quality.
Furthermore, Boeing still needs to provide plans to the regulator within 90 days in regards to improvements on the production line.
All eyes will be on the full list of actions undertaken, as the 737 MAX is a big money-puller for the American planemaker.
With BCA expected to lose a lot of money this year, all eyes will be on whether this can be recovered.
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