Ryanair won’t tell passengers they are f lying on the Boeing 737 Max

RYANAIR will not confirm whether it plans to sue aeroplane manufacturer Boeing over its failure to deliver its new 737 Max aircraft on time.

Production of the controversial aircraft has been suspended after it was involved in two fatal crashes which killed 364 people in total.

However, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said the airline would press ahead with its order of 135 of the aircraft when production resumes.

He also said passengers would not be told if their flight was due to take place on 737 Max when booking their tickets.

An industry source said it is now ‘unlikely Ryanair has any other choice’ but to sue Boeing for the indefinite delay

‘Our aircraft allocations are done nightly’

in delivering the new aircraft.

‘Let’s be clear, this is going to wallop Ryanair’s shareholders. It’s a monumental **** -up. If these aircraft don’t turn up, they’ll have to be heavily compensated,’ the source said.

It’s expected that Ryanair will follow Timaero, an Irish-based aircraft-leasing company that buys and leases planes, in suing Boeing.

The company is suing the aircraft manufacturer in a Chicago court, alleging breach of contract in deals it signed starting in 2014 for 22 of the jets. It wants €166m compensation.

The company said it relied on Boeing’s assurances that the planes were safe and would be delivered on time.

Crashes of 737 Max planes operated by Lion Air in October 2018 and Ethiopian Airways in March 2019 led to the planes being grounded. A flaw in the flight-control sensors was identified as the cause of the crashes.

Thousands of airline customers vowed online never to fly the aircraft.

However, Mr O’Leary is confident the ill-fated aircraft will eventually go back into production and last week dismissed the idea of giving passengers a choice of aircraft when they book Ryanair.

It follows the decision by several airlines to inform passengers when booking that they would be on a 737 Max. They could then choose whether or not to take the flight.

But Mr O’Leary says Ryanair’s aircraft allocation procedures mean passengers could not be told during the booking process whether their flights were due to be operated by Boeing 737 Max jets.

He told Flightglobal magazine that Ryanair customers are unlikely to view this as a problem because ‘confidence in this aircraft will restore very rapidly’.

‘The reality is [if people want to know whether or not they are due to fly in a Max jet], the answer is that you won’t, Mr O’Leary said.

‘Because we won’t know. We do our aircraft allocations on a nightly basis. You’re booking your ticket six, eight weeks in advance.’

The Consumer Association of Ireland said that Ryanair’s policy could lead to a customer boycott of the airline.

It warned that Ryanair will have to ‘make a very big decision to continue with its order of the aircraft’.

‘If and when the US authorities pass them as safe, then Ryanair need to make a very big deal about that because at the moment a lot of people don’t think they’re safe,’ said Consumer Association spokesperson Dermott Jewell.

‘Beyond that, let the buyer beware. If customers aren’t happy they can exercise their choice and not buy a ticket. If there was even a hint that there was something further wrong with these planes, it could wipe Ryanair out.’

However, Mr O’Leary said the 737 Max would be ‘the most audited, the most certified, the most rigorously regulated aircraft delivery into service in history, which should give passengers confidence in its safety’.

‘On a daily and weekly basis as it racks up thousands of flight hours very quickly, I think confidence will return very quickly,’ he added.

Ryanair had been due to receive its first 737 Max 8 in April this year, but Boeing suspended deliveries in March in the wake of the global grounding. As well as the 135 Max planes on order, Ryanair also holds options to buy a further 75.