Ryanair on Tuesday said that it expects first deliveries of 737 Max aircrafts from Boeing by April. The airline company expects that the deliveries could be up to 10 aircrafts. This is the first time in months that there is some positive news on the grounded Boeing 737 Max. The troubled aircraft hasn't made a single flight since last March.
However, the airline company also cautioned that the timing would depend on the US regulators, who are yet to complete the review of the grounded aircraft. Ryanair has a huge number of Boeing 737 Max on order but none are in service. The company had earlier set a longer timeline for the first deliveries of the 737 Max.
Ryanair hopeful about deliveries
Ryanair expects Boeing will make first deliveries of the 737 Max aircrafts earlier than it had expected. On Tuesday, Ryanair's chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs said that it expects the first deliveries of up to 10 737 Max aircraft by April. However, he also said that the date could defer and depends on the regulators who are yet to complete the review of the troubled aircraft.
The company had earlier this month said that it is likely that it might not receive the first deliveries of the troubled 737 Max aircrafts until October. Jacobs at a press conference in Madrid said, "We now think we will get it in March or April this year, looks more like April than March, and we think we will get up to 10 MAX aircraft."
No assurance on 737 Max's return
Although Ryanair is hopeful that the first deliveries by Boeing will be made in April, everything depends on the US Federal Aviation Administration. Ryanair has up to 210 of the planes on order. However, none are in service. Jacobs also said that the entire deliveries in Europe depend on the US regulators. The delay in return of the 737 Max has seen all airline companies cancelling hundreds of flights across the globe until April.
In December, Ryanair cut its passenger traffic forecast for the year to March 2021 by a million to 156 million. Boeing, on the other hand, has been making all efforts to bring back the aircraft to service but so far hasn't been able to impress the federal authorities.
Instead, relationship with the regulators has only soured over the months. The company new chief executive David Calhoun who took charge of office on Monday will now have to make all efforts to repair relationship with the regulators and get back the aircraft to service.
