MAX delays hurt Ryanair’s winter schedule

Delivery delays of the Boeing MAX 8200 force Ryanair to make adjustments in its original winter 2023/2024 schedule. The low-cost carrier said on Thursday that it is expecting thirteen fewer aircraft deliveries until the end of December. Ryanair had expected 27 MAX 8200s between September and the end of December but is now anticipating only fourteen between October and December. The carrier cites production delays at Boeing’s supplier Spirit AeroSystems as one of the reasons. Spirit is down on its production target after employees went on strike in July and are unable to recover from this. The second reason is the rework of aft pressure bulkheads after Spirit discovered quality issues in August with non-conforming holes for fasteners. Boeing needs to do checks and rework on some 165 MAX aircraft in inventory. Chief Financial Officer Brian West said in early September that rework will take longer than expected. “We are working closely with Boeing and their supplier, Spirit, to minimize these delivery delays. It is deeply regrettable that production problems in Wichita, and in Seattle, have yet again delayed Boeing’s contracted deliveries to Ryanair this winter,” Group CEO Michael O’Leary says in a media statement. “We are in regular dialogue with Boeing, and our primary objective is to ensure we get delivery of all 57 contracted B737 aircraft before the end of May 2024, so that Ryanair’s fleet can grow to over 600 aircraft for what will be our largest ever summer flight program.” Reducing the number of based aircraft This comes too late for the upcoming winter season, which starts at the end of October. Ryanair is cutting the number of aircraft at various bases, reducing the fleet in Charleroi (Belgium) by three and in Dublin by two aircraft. Across bases in Italy, there will be five fewer aircraft, including Bergamo, Naples, and Pisa. There will also be fewer aircraft based in the East Midlands (the UK), Porto (Portugal), and Cologne (Germany). Cancellations will take effect from the end of October. The airline says that affected passengers will be informed by email over the coming days. They will be offered re-accommodation on alternative flights or will get a full refund. O’Leary said in July that delivery delays will impact the total number of passengers carried in FY24 by some 1.5 million. Instead of 185 million, the airline group that includes Ryanair, Buzz Air, Malta Air, and Lauda expects to carry 183.5 million this financial year, which closes in March. “At this early date, we do not expect these delivery delays will materially affect our full-year traffic target of 183.5 million, but if the delays worsen or extend further into the January to March 2024 period, we may have to revisit this figure and possibly adjust it slightly downward,” O’Leary said. EU Court rejects claims In a separate development on Thursday, the European Court of Justice in Luxemburg dismissed the claims from Ryanair that the Covid support to SAS Scandinavian Airlines in 2020 has been illegal. The Court confirmed the previous judgment from the General Court of April 2021 that the governments of Sweden and Denmark were entitled to support the airline with SEK 1.5 billion revolving credit facility. Ryanair has always claimed that state support has been illegal and has hurt competition. "The Court of Justice points out, in particular, that the aid measure at issue could be limited to SAS. It was not necessary for it to benefit all undertakings that suffered damage caused by the Covid-19 pandemic," it says in a media statement.

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