Ryanair CEO says Boeing executive downplayed aircraft tariff threat

Ryanair's boss is confident that commercial jets will not be sucked into trade tensions between the United States and other trade powers, including Europe, after a meeting with a top Boeing executive. Michael O'Leary, CEO of the European budget airline, said he had met Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stephanie Pope earlier this week and the signs were that U.S. President Donald Trump would be supportive of Boeing, barring any repeat of high-profile safety incidents. "At the heart of the Trump agenda, we don't think there's much likelihood of tariffs on aircraft (but) couldn't rule it out," he told Reuters. Speaking later to a conference hosted by the A4E European airline industry association, he said: "I met with Boeing and they don't believe there will be tariffs on aircraft or parts". O’Leary did not say how Boeing had reached this conclusion nor whether it had been briefed by the Trump administration. Boeing had no immediate comment. O'Leary, interviewed on the sidelines of the conference, also addressed plans to recover output and secure long-delayed certification for the MAX 10, a key part of Boeing's efforts to contain runaway sales of an Airbus competitor. The 737 MAX 10 is the largest member of Boeing's narrowbody jet family and Boeing is waiting for approval from regulators in the wake of a wider safety crisis. It has allocated this and other delayed development programmes to one of its top troubleshooters, Mike Sinnett. O'Leary said Boeing had agreed to supply alternative jets in time for summer 2027 if it fails to certify the MAX 10 this year. "I think we'll get our first 15 MAX 10s in 2027 but Boeing have now agreed, if they don't get certification this year and they can't deliver us MAX 10s, they will deliver us additional MAX 8s in time for summer 2027," O'Leary said, referring to the MAX 8200 high-density model currently used by Ryanair.<br/>