Ryanair CEO: Boeing quality is a concern, further delays possible

Ryanair is concerned by shortcomings identified by U.S. regulators in a report into the Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 accident, and increased regulatory supervision is set to "slow things down" at Boeing, CEO Michael O'Leary said on Wednesday. Ryanair, Europe's largest airline by passenger numbers and one of Boeing's main customers, has ordered over 350 MAX jets in recent years, but has no MAX 9 aircraft. A door plug, opens new tab that flew off an Alaska Airlines MAX 9 jet mid-flight on Jan. 5 appeared to be missing four key bolts, according to a preliminary report by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board released on Tuesday. "I think we're concerned because it highlights, you know, poor production quality with Boeing... but we don't think it affects our Boeing 737 fleet or the MAX 8 that we operate," CEO Michael O'Leary told Reuters on the sidelines of an event in Lisbon on Wednesday. He said the last 12 aircraft Ryanair received in October-December showed quality improvements from earlier in the year, "but Boeing have clearly more to do". "But there's no doubt that the increased supervision by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) in Seattle will slow things down. We're just not sure yet whether it will affect our deliveries between now and the end of June," he added.<br/>