Ryanair facing flight disruptions from shortage of Boeing aircraft - report

A shortage of Boeing aircraft could force Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) to cut some flights from its busy summer schedule.

According to Reuters, the Irish discount carrier was set to receive 57 new plans from Boeing (BA) by the end of April, but Boeing has since advised the company that the number could be cut to 50. Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary worries that the actual number could be closer to 30 or 40.

“We don’t really know how many aircraft we’re going to get from Boeing,” O’Leary is quoted as saying. “We are now far less confident we’re going to get between 45 and 50,” he added.

Production issues have plagued Boeing for the better part of 2023 and were exacerbated when a door plug blew off an

The production issues have encouraged airlines to look towards Airbus to fill in the gaps or have canceled orders outright. This leaves production slots open at Boeing for other carriers to assume. The carrier said as recently as the end of January it was “keen to get [its] hands on as many of the [Boeing] 8200s and the 10s as we can to grow over the next few years.”

Ryanair is one of Boeing’s largest customers with more than 131 Boeing Max-8s in its fleet following Southwest (LUV) with 215 and United (UAL) at 153. Therefore, the limited number of new aircraft could cause not only disruptions in Ryanair’s (RYAAY) summer flight schedule but could jeopardize Ryanair’s (RYAAY) competitive advantage over other European discount carriers.

Ryanair (RYAAY) has already issued a profit warning for 2024 as a result of a recent row with online travel agents.