Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Ryanair has doubled the number of its engineers overseeing Boeing’s production lines following the manufacturing problems that have plagued the US plane maker.
The Irish airline, which is one of the largest customers of Boeing’s 737 Max narrow-body aircraft used for short-haul flights, increased the number of engineers it has on site at the US group’s production line in Seattle from six to 12. Ryanair has also raised the number of engineers on the production line of Spirit AeroSystems, one of Boeing’s largest suppliers, from four to eight.
“We all as an industry want to be seen to be investing more in quality control and what is coming off the line,” said Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary on Tuesday.
O’Leary said Boeing had last week asked Ryanair to increase its oversight, and that the plane maker had also pledged to add more of its own engineers working on “quality control”.
“To be fair to Boeing, from last September they have significantly increased the number of engineers on quality control. I would have to say we have seen a marked improvement in the quality of aircraft deliveries,” he said.
Ryanair only flies Boeing aircraft, and has an order book of more than 400 new aircraft, made up of 737-Max 8 and the yet to be certified Max-10.
The airline does not operate any Max 9 aircraft, currently the focus of a federal investigation after a damaging fuselage breach of an Alaska Airlines aircraft 11 days ago. The Federal Aviation Authority has grounded 171 of the Max 9 aircraft pending inspections of the production lines as well as suppliers.
Boeing customers around the world are closely watching to see whether the issues around the Max 9 impact its wider order book for the narrow-body plane, which has a backlog of 4,777 aircraft and has been beset by delivery delays.
Boeing shares on Tuesday extended their downward trend since the start of the year, falling 7.6 per cent to $201. Analysts at Wells Fargo downgraded their rating on the stock citing concerns that the FAA probe could expand to other Max models.
Boeing is awaiting certification on two other Max variants, the Max 7 and Max 10.
O’Leary said he hoped the Max 10 would be certified by the end of the year and that deliveries to his airline would not be delayed, but conceded the inquest into the Alaska incident could distract Boeing.
“The senior management of Boeing are in a shit storm again, which can’t be good for delivering aircraft,” he said.
Still, he offered Boeing’s senior management his full support.
Safety experts have in recent weeks raised separate concerns over Boeing’s request for an exemption from the FAA on critical safety rules on the smallest model, Max 7, to allow it to be certified to fly. Investors had expected it to be certified in the first half of this year before being delivered to its launch customer, Southwest Airlines.
Boeing asked for the exemption last year after discovering a flaw in the aircraft’s engine anti-ice system. The FAA has agreed an interim solution while Boeing works on a permanent fix which it has promised will be ready to start rolling out by the end of May 2026.
“My recommendation to the FAA is to not grant the exemption,” said John Cox, a retired pilot and chief executive of consultancy Safety Operating Systems.
“From a safety and regulatory standpoint I don’t think it is prudent to issue a type certificate to an aeroplane with a significant known problem where you are getting around it with a procedure that has significant limitations to it. It requires a pilot to do specific actions perfectly all the time.”
Other Max models already flying, the Max 8 and the Max 9, have since introduced the interim solution, which involves pilots being urged to turn off the system once icy conditions have gone to prevent overheating.
Boeing said that it is developing a “long-term solution that will undergo thorough testing and FAA review before being introduced to the 737 MAX fleet”. The FAA has been approached for comment.
Additional reporting by Steff Chavez in New York
