French minister ‘stupid’, says Ryanair chief

THE boss of Ryanair has compared France’s finance minister to Donald Trump after he gave a “silly and ill-advised” criticism of plane maker Boeing.

Michael O’leary branded Bruno Le Maire a “stupid politician” for saying he hesitates to travel on Boeing aircraft because he values his life.

Mr Le Maire drew laughter and applause this week when he told the Europe 2024 conference in Berlin: “I now prefer flying in Airbus over Boeing — my family too, they care about me.” Mr O’leary told Politico, an American digital news service, that Mr Le Maire’s words were “silly and ill-judged” but “we live in a world where we encourage free speech and Donald Trump is talking rubbish. So is Bruno Le Maire”.

Last year one of Ryanair’s biggest low-cost rivals, Wizz Air, said it expected 45 of its 180-strong Airbus A320 fleet would be grounded for months because of engine problems.

The French government is the biggest single shareholder in Airbus, the arch rival of the US aircraft manufacturer. Boeing, meanwhile, has been in crisis since a blowout during an Alaska Airlines flight in January.

Ryanair has warned that it will be forced to put up ticket prices this summer as it grapples with delays to deliveries of new planes from Boeing. Just 40 of the 57 aircraft on order are expected to arrive by the end of June.

In the latest blow to the manufacturer, Deutsche Bank yesterday slashed its forecasts for underlying profits at Boeing by 91pc to $238m (£187m) from $2.7bn.

Boeing said it was “implementing changes to strengthen quality” across its production system and “taking the necessary time to deliver high quality airplanes that meet all regulatory requirements”.