Ryanair says it will take up cancelled 737 Max slots

Budget airline Ryanair (FR/RYR) has said it will take up cancelled 737 Max slots as airlines show mixed confidence in the single-aisle airliner.

United Airlines has recently said it doesn’t see the 737 Max as part of its future fleet plans and throwing doubts over an order for 250 of the yet to be certified 737 Max 10.

The move comes after a run of accidents, incidents and quality control issues from Boeing which has not only knocked public confidence but industry confidence too in the type.

Ryanair’s chief executive Michael O’Leary bucked the trend though and said comments made by United’s CEO were “not helpful”.

The all Boeing 737 airline operates the high density 737 Max 8200 already and has the 737 Max 10 on order.

At a press gathering O’Leary said “If United or any other airlines don’t want to take their Max 10 orders, we will be happy to step in,”

Ryanair has over 400 737 max aircraft orders on the books has been vocal about delays on deliveries.

The new aircraft are critical to Ryanair’s expansion plans so it’s perhaps unsurprising they will be looking at all angles to bump up the delivery schedule.

Issues with the 737 max have included two fatal accidents of the Max 8 attributed to the software system of the airliner and more recently, an emergency exit plug door detached from a 737 Max 9 in flight causing an explosive decompression which thankfully didn’t result in any fatalities largely due to the seat belt light still being illuminated.

The latter has been linked to a quality control issue at Boeing with checks on other 737 Max 9s finding loose bolts of the same doors.