Ryanair boss declares passengers are safe despite Boeing issues
Ryanair’s chief executive has insisted passengers are safe in its fleet of Boeing aircraft after he raised questions about quality control at the plane manufacturer.
Speaking to Sky News following the Alaska Airlines accident that saw a fuselage panel blow out of a 737 MAX 9, Michael O’Leary said he was sending a team of engineers to oversee production of 57 aircraft he has on order, and his customers should be reassured.
“We don’t fly the MAX 9 so the issue doesn’t apply, there’s none of those aircraft in Europe.
“Boeing make great aircraft. The 737 is the most audited aircraft in history, it’s the oldest and most secure plane in the air, we’re very proud to fly them and we’ve had no kickback or pushback from passengers flying on our aircraft.”
Mr O’Leary said Ryanair will double the number of engineers it has on the ground at production facilities in Wichita, from four to eight, and Seattle, from six to 12, following a request from Boeing, as well as increasing those inspecting their own planes.
A Ryanair team met senior Boeing management including under-pressure chief executive Dave Calhoun in Seattle last week, and told them they had concerns over quality control.
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How Bob found plane door in back yard
Mr O’Leary said he retained full “faith and confidence” in Mr Calhoun but wanted to see improvement in quality control that in the past had seen planes delivered to Ryanair with “a spanner under the floorboards”, and items left in the hold.
He said Boeing had doubled the number of its own engineers on production lines after concerns raised by the failure of a door “plug”, that blew out at 16,000 feet apparently because four bolts had not been secured.
“I have a lot of confidence and time for the work that Dave Calhoun and Brian West, the chief finance officer, have done over the last two years. I think they’ve made very significant improvements,” he said.
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Boeing and Spirit at centre of blowout scare
“But there’s more to do. Ryanair sent a team to Seattle last week, we’ve met with the senior management, they’ve asked us to put more engineers on the ground in Seattle, which we’ve agreed to do.
“And they’ve also committed to putting more engineers that are sitting on top of quality control and quality assurance as the aircraft come off the product or the production facility.
“It is not acceptable that aircraft come out of Wichita, or aircraft get delivered from Seattle with anything wrong with those aircraft, and they need to be checking that all the bolts are secure, that all the fasteners are in the right place and the holes are in the right place.”
Mr O’Leary said he was encouraged that its most recent deliveries from Boeing had been “the best aircraft we’ve ever had from them”, adding that he expects the grounding of the MAX 9s to be lifted as soon as next week as the US-wide inspection process is completed.
Ryanair has orders for a further 57 planes to be delivered this year but to date has received only seven from Boeing, and Mr O’Leary said a likely shortfall will hit its target of flying 205 million passengers this year.
“We think we’d be lucky to get 50 by the end of June, which is just in time for the peak summer this year. So there’s no doubt we’re going to be short some aircraft.
“Our plan was to grow this year to 205 million passengers, it’s more likely to be 200, 201, 202, million. So we have to grow a little bit slower. But maybe that’s a good thing in the overall context of the work that Boeing has to do on its assembly line in Seattle.”
Mr O’Leary also rejected the British government’s plan, announced in the King’s Speech, to clamp down on “drip pricing”, the practice whereby additional costs are added into consumer purchases.
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Ryanair says any “ancillary” costs added on to ticket prices, for baggage or seat priority, are legitimate and transparent, and called on the prime minister to focus on online travel agents he accused of “scamming” customers.
“What [Rishi Sunak] should be tackling is the online travel agency scams that are going on where you have these people masquerading as price comparison websites, but then duping people into making bookings and getting overcharged for air fares and overcharged some cases by 200% or 300%. That could be eliminated before the next election.”
He also called for the chief executive of National Air Traffic Control, Martin Rolfe, to be sacked following the air traffic control failure last summer, and described Brexit as “a disaster for the British economy” that made red tape in the UK more onerous than in Europe.
UK car production fell by more than a quarter (27.1%) last month as a cyberattack at Jaguar Land Rover halted manufacturing at the plant, industry figures show.
The total number of vehicles coming off assembly lines – including cars and vans – fell an even sharper 35.9%, according to September data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
“Largely responsible” for the drop was the five-week pause in production at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) due to a malicious cyber attack, as other car makers reported growth.
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JLR’s assembly lines in the West Midlands and Halewood on Merseyside were paused from late August to early October as a result.
During this time, not a single vehicle was made. Production has since restarted, but the attack is believed to have been the “most financially damaging” in UK history at an estimated cost of £1.9bn, according to the security body the Cyber Monitoring Centre.
It was the lowest number of cars made in any September in the UK since 1952, including during the COVID-19 lockdown.
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Are we in a cyber attack ‘epidemic’?
Despite the restart, the sector remains “under immense pressure”, the SMMT’s chief executive Mike Hawes said.
The phased restart of operations led to a small boost in manufacturing output this month, according to a closely watched survey.
Of the cars that were made, nearly half (47.8%) were battery electric, plug-in hybrid or hybrid.
The vast majority, 76% of the total vehicles output, were made for export.
The top destinations are the European Union, US, Turkey, Japan and South Korea.
JLR was just the latest business to be the subject of a cyberattack.
Harrods, the Co-Op, and Marks and Spencer, are among the companies that have struggled in the past year with such attacks.
Championship club Sheffield Wednesday have filed for administration, according to a court filing, which will result in the already struggling side being hit with a 12-point deduction.
The South Yorkshire club currently sit bottom of the Championship, the second tier of English football, with just six points from 11 games.
Known as The Owls, Wednesday are one of the oldest surviving clubs in world football, with more than 150 years of history.
Court records confirm the club have filed for administration. A notice was filed at a specialist court at 10.01am.
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Sky’s Rob Harris reports on the news that Sheffield Wednesday have filed for administration
What has happened?
The Owls, who host Oxford United on Saturday, have been in turmoil for a long time.
On 3 June, owner Dejphon Chansiri, a Thai canned fish magnate who took over the club in 2015, was charged with breaching EFL regulations regarding payment obligations.
Sheffield Wednesday fans protest the ownership at a game away to Leeds United in January. Pic: Reuters
Weeks later, Mr Chansiri said he was willing to sell the club in a statement on their official website.
Sheffield Wednesday’s troubles have sparked furious protests from fans. Pic: PA
Their crisis deepened just days later when another embargo was imposed on the club relating to payments owed to HMRC, before players and staff were not paid on time on 30 June.
In the months that followed, forwards Josh Windass and Michael Smith left the club by mutual consent. Manager Danny Rohl, now at Rangers, also left by mutual consent.
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Frustrated Sheffield Wednesday supporters have targeted their embattled club’s owner in a highly-visible protest during their opening match of the season.
The Owls were forced to close the 9,255-capacity North Stand at Hillsborough after a Prohibition Notice was issued by Sheffield City Council.
‘Current uncertainty’
On 6 August, the EFL released a statement, saying: “We are clear that the current owner needs either to fund the club to meet its obligations or make good on his commitment to sell to a well-funded party, for fair market value – ending the current uncertainty and impasse.”
On 13 August, the Prohibition Notice was lifted, but a month later, news emerged of a winding-up petition over £1m owed to HMRC.
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Last season, Wednesday finished 12th. They had already been placed under registration embargoes in the last two seasons after being hit by a six-point deduction during the 2020/21 campaign, for breaching profit and sustainability rules.
With a 12-point deduction, the Owls would be 15 points away from safety in the Championship.
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