Ryanair CEO O'Leary confident of Boeing's 737 ramp-up, sees Trump support

By Joanna Plucinska

LONDON (Reuters) -Ryanair is confident that Boeing will ramp up its production of 737 MAX jets to 38 per month this summer and will be allowed by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to then increase that to 42, the airline's CEO said on Wednesday.

Michael O'Leary, whose airline is one of the largest customers of the 737 MAX, was speaking after meetings with Boeing management in Seattle earlier this month.

He said Ryanair expects to take delivery of the last 29 of its current 737 MAX order between August and November this year. In quarterly results on Monday he said they would be delivered by March 2026.

"Those deliveries are ...dependent on Boeing getting monthly production up to 38 by the end of this summer, and then getting permission from the FAA to go up to 42," O'Leary told a news conference in London, referring to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.

The FAA placed a cap on production of 737 MAX planes in January 2024 over safety concerns after a mid-air panel blowout.

Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg told Reuters on Tuesday the planemaker expects to reach a production rate of 38 airplanes a month on the 737 MAX program, and by the second half of the year, get approval from the FAA to increase production above that rate.

"I'm pretty confident under the Trump administration, they will be much more pro-American manufacturing and American jobs... much more supportive of Boeing's recovery," O'Leary said.

"I don't think the Biden administration was particularly helpful to Boeing."

Ortberg is due to visit Ryanair in Dublin for further meetings in February, O'Leary said, adding that he hopes Ortberg "woos" him as the visit will fall around Valentine's Day.

"I would be very optimistic that Boeing's turnaround will continue and will accelerate," he said.

(Reporting by Joanna Plucinska; Writing by Conor Humphries; Editing by Alison Williams, Mark Potter and Ros Russell)