Michael O'Leary, CEO of Ryanair, Europe's largest low-cost airline, slammed Boeing on Monday's earnings conference call, accusing the aircraft manufacturer of "very poor management" and calling for a reshuffle of its senior management**
"At present, we think Boeing's management is running around like a headless fly and can't sell planes. Even the planes they want to deliver can't be delivered on time," oli said in a earnings conference call with analysts, according to FactSet's records
Ryanair has ordered hundreds of aircraft from Boeing, but delivery was delayed, forcing the airline to scale back its plans. Last fall, Ryanair terminated negotiations with Boeing on the order of Max 10 aircraft due to a price dispute.
O'Leary made it clear on Monday that he blamed Boeing.
"Boeing's management in Seattle is very bad. We are their biggest customer, but they need to restart somewhere in Seattle and hopefully [Boeing CEO] Dave Calhoun can do that," he said on Monday's conference call
O'Leary said that Boeing had agreed to deliver a batch of 737 Max aircraft before this spring, but failed to achieve it.
"In May and June, this may cost us 600000 to 800000 seats, which is disappointing and Boeing still hasn't explained," he said
O'Leary was particularly frustrated by the delays because he said the planes had been produced years ago.
"Therefore, Boeing needs to restart management in Seattle. Either the existing managers need to improve their level, or they need to change the existing management," he said