No plans to market 737 Max differently: Ryanair chief

Ryanair will not be marketing the Boeing 737 Max differently to the other aircraft in its fleet, its CE confirmed Tuesday. During a call with analysts after announcing slower growth plans for 2020 as a result of the Max grounding, Michael O'Leary repeatedly referred to the aircraft as the "Max". "We will not be separately designating the Max aircraft from the NGs," he says. "It's impossible because we do our aircraft allocations overnight, so we have no idea tomorrow or next month which flight will be operated by an NG or a 737 Max." He does not expect there to be a customer perception issue or lack of confidence in the aircraft once it is back flying. He cites the example of the 787, which was grounded for a short while over lithium-battery issues. "Once the return to service is successfully managed, I think the Ryanair aircraft will be warmly welcomed by our passengers who fly on them, in much the same way that the passengers love flying the 787 and it has become an incredibly popular aircraft," O'Leary predicts. In terms of pilot training, he says the expectation at the moment is that pilots will require additional computer-based training, with simulator time to come as part of the regular six-monthly simulator checks, although he adds that this could still change.<br/>