Ryanair negotiations for a Boeing MAX 10 order end without an agreement

Ryanair today (Mon 6^th Sept) announced that its negotiations with Boeing for a MAX10 order (to follow its current deliveries for 210 Boeing 737 MAX 8-200  aircraft) have ended without any agreement on pricing.

Ryanair will take delivery of over 200 Boeing 737 MAX 8-200 aircraft over the next 5 years from 2021 to 2025 (called “Gamechanger” in their vocabulary). These deliveries will see Ryanair’s fleet grow to over 600 aircraft capable of carrying over 200 million passengers par annum.

Ryanair and Boeing have been in discussions about a large follow on order for Boeing MAX 10 aircraft over the past 10 months. However, last week it became clear that the pricing gap between the partners could not be closed and accordingly, both sides have agreed to waste no more time on these negotiations.

Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said:

 “We are disappointed we couldn’t reach an agreement with Boeing on a MAX 10 order. However, Boeing have a more optimistic outlook on aircraft pricing than we do, and we have a disciplined track record of not paying high prices for aircraft.

We have a more than sufficient order pipeline to allow us to grow strongly over the next 5 years with a Boeing 737 fleet, which will rise to over 600 aircraft and will enable Ryanair to capitalise on the extraordinary growth opportunities that are emerging all over Europe as the Continent recovers from the Covid pandemic.

We do not share Boeing’s optimistic pricing outlook, although this may explain why in recent weeks other large Boeing customers such as Delta and Jet2, have been placing new orders with Airbus, rather than Boeing”.

Our comment

Will Ryanair switch to Airbus and order the A321neo? Not in our opinion:  during his press conference in Brussels on 31 August, Michael O’Leary repeated to Aviation24.be that he considers the Boeing 737 MAX as the best aeroplane for low-cost airlines.

It’s probably again a negotiation tactic: O’Leary will ring at the door of Airbus to have a low quote, which Airbus will happily provide in order to enter at Ryanair, and then he will return to Boeing and ask them to follow suit.