Ryanair may reduce the number of passengers due to Boeing's problems with fulfilling orders

Ryanair will have to lower its passenger traffic estimates next year due to expected delays in aircraft deliveries from Boeing, Michael O'Leary, CEO of the low-cost airline group, told Reuters on Wednesday.

This decision is a response to the ongoing strike at Boeing, which has raised concerns about increasing delays in the execution of orders by this aircraft manufacturer. For a long time, Boeing has been struggling with problems with fulfilling aircraft orders.

– We were supposed to receive twenty deliveries before the end of December. They will probably arrive in January and February now, and that's fine. We will get them in time for next summer, O'Leary said, as quoted by Reuters.

He added that the airlines are not sure whether they will receive the planes they have ordered – The biggest problem for Ryanair is that we are supposed to receive 30 planes in March, April, May and June next year, and how many of them will we receive? – O'Leary wonders.

The head of the line stated that in 30 years of work in the industry, he has never encountered production capacity limitations on the current scale. – We want to avoid next year what we had this year. We prepared, manned 50 planes, and then we only got 30… we were overbooked, overstaffed. This year we suffered a significant financial penalty, he added.

Last week, after almost a month of negotiations with trade unions, the American aviation company decided to dismiss 17,000 employees (one tenth of its staff).

Reducing the workforce by 10%. he justified the need to adapt to the financial reality as a result of the strike of 33,000 employees on the West Coast USAwhich stopped production of 737 MAX, 767 and 777 planes. According to Reuters, an agreement to end the strike is crucial for Boeing. The company accused the mechanics of lack of good faith negotiations and unfair practices.

Ratings agency S&P estimated that the strike would cost Boeing $1 billion a month.

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Toulouse's main rival, Airbus, is also struggling with delivery delays and has been hit by high fees for space systems, including OneSat, and delays and rising costs in the defense industry. On Wednesday, he announced plans to lay off 2,500 employees – 7%. its defense and space department – by mid-2026, after talks with trade unions.