BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The chief executive of Irish budget carrier Ryanair said he was prepared to would skip a chance to buy the Boeing 737 MAX 10 following a recent public dispute over pricing, but would meet the planemaker for further talks in April.
“We have to wait for Boeing to be in a kind of headspace for talking about MAX 10s. At the moment, they’re dealing with a backlog of deliveries, 777 issues, design delays or certification delays on the MAX 10. They have a whole heap of problems,” Michael O’Leary told Reuters.
“There are many times in my life that I missed the market, there’s always that possibility. But you know, even if we have, we’re very content where we are; we have 210 aircraft deliveries to take over the next five years,” he said in an interview.
Boeing officials had no immediate comment.
The U.S. company has said in response to previous criticism from Ryanair over the price of a potential new order for 200 jets that it is committed to supporting the carrier as a partner but will “continue to be disciplined” in commercial decisions.
(Reporting by Tim Hepher; editing by Jason Neely)