THE CEO OF RYANAIR Michael O’Leary has said that there has been no sign of “passenger concern” about flying on Boeing jets since Alaska Airlines had to ground a plane after the window blew out.
The incident happened last Friday while a plane was mid-flight, not long after it took off from Portland, Oregan.
The U.S Federal Aviation Administration grounded the particular model of plane. The plane that the window blew out of was a 737 MAX 9 jet. The authority has grounded 171 Boeing jets, as they are installed with the same type of panel.
No one was injured during the incident, and the plane safely made an emergency landing.
Reuters has reported that O’Leary today said that “not one passenger” has shown concern about flying on 737 MAX planes (Ryanair operates different Boeing jets, but not the type that was grounded).
O’Leary added that though the Max 9 issue is concerning, he has confirmed that there is no issue with the MAX 8 model of Boeing jets that Ryanair operates, after lengthy phone calls with regulators over the weekend.
The CEO said that Ryanair has found “minor issues” on aircraft deliveries from Boeing jets “that shouldn’t be occurring in a world class manufacturer like Boeing”.
He said that though Boeing has made “tremendous strides” in recent years, the US plane maker has “more to do on the quality control side”.
O’Leary made it clear that he remains committed to Boeing for future orders and has faith in the company’s CEO, although he does hold concerns about the company’s day-to-day production in its Seattle base.
“They’ve changed the management in Wichita but I think more needs to be done with the day-to-day management in Seattle,” he said.
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