Ryanair chief says Boeing executive downplayed threat of plane tariffs

Ryanair's chief executive is confident that commercial jets will not be caught in trade disputes between the US and other economic powers, including Europe, after discussions with Boeing's top brass.

Michael O'Leary, the chief executive of the Irish budget airline, said he met with Boeing Commercial Airplanes chief Stephanie Pope this week and there was every indication that US President Donald Trump would back Boeing unless there were serious safety incidents.

“Trump thinks the likelihood of tariffs on airplanes is low, [but] we can't completely rule it out,” he said on Friday.

Later, speaking at a conference organised by the European aviation industry association A4E, he added: “I have spoken to Boeing and they are confident that there will be no tariffs on aircraft or parts.”

O'Leary did not specify how Boeing came to this conclusion or whether they had information from the Trump administration.

Boeing representatives have not yet commented on the situation.

In an interview on the sidelines of the conference, O'Leary also outlined plans to restart production and secure long-awaited certification of the MAX 10, a key part of Boeing's efforts to curb runaway sales of rival Airbus.

The 737 MAX 10 is the largest plane in Boeing’s single-aisle jet family, and the company is awaiting regulatory approval amid a larger safety crisis. That and other delayed development programs have been handed over to one of its top troubleshooters, Mike Sinnett.

O'Leary said Boeing has agreed to provide alternative aircraft by the summer of 2027 if the MAX 10's certification is not completed this year.

“I expect we’ll get the first 15 MAX 10s in 2027, but Boeing has already agreed that if they don’t get certification this year and can’t deliver the MAX 10s to us, they’ll deliver additional MAX 8s by the summer of 2027,” O’Leary said, referring to the high-density MAX 8200 model currently used by Ryanair.

“I'm confident that there's a strong team in place between [new Boeing CEO] Kelly Ortberg, [Commercial CEO] Stephanie Pope and the rest of the people who are running Boeing now, and barring anything unforeseen, I think we'll get there by 2025, 2026, 2027,” O'Leary added.

Production progress

Boeing has agreed to speed up deliveries of some planes this year, but the Irish carrier will still be 30 planes short this summer, he told Reuters.

Ryanair does not usually take delivery of aircraft after the peak summer season, preferring to defer deliveries until the following season, but this year it agreed to take delivery of 25 such aircraft between August and October, he added.