Ryanair boss tackles Bruno Le Maire, whom he compares to Donald Trump after his comments on Boeing

“A stupid politician.” The boss of Ryanair did not appreciate Bruno Le Maire's comments on Boeing, after the incidents affecting the American manufacturer's aircraft, notably the loss of a door in mid-flight at the beginning of January on a 737 MAX. The Minister of the Economy assured that he “now prefers to fly an Airbus than to fly a Boeing”. “My family cares about me too,” he added.

His comment was “stupid and ill-advised”, tackles Michael O’Leary in an interview with Politico, going so far as to compare the French minister’s exit to those of Donald Trump. “We live in a world where we encourage free speech, and Donald Trump is talking nonsense. Bruno Le Maire does the same thing.”

The entire fleet of the low-cost airline is made up of Boeing 737s, old models but also 737 MAXs currently being delivered. “Ryanair operated a million flights last year on 737s” without any particular problem, noted its boss. And to emphasize that Airbuses are not free from problems, like the A320neo which had to be grounded for a fault in their engines.

Michael O'Leary, however, criticized the American regulator, who, he believes, did not sufficiently control the manufacturer. “Boeing has almost been authorized to self-regulate” in recent years, denounces the boss of Ryanair. “We pay $100 million for each of these new planes: we need to know that safety standards and quality control are perfect, both in Toulouse [Airbus] and in Seattle [Boeing].”

The psychosis that sets in among certain passengers around Boeings, especially 737s, is a real challenge for companies whose fleet is largely made up of them. Especially since some flight comparators now offer filters allowing you to exclude certain models from searches. At the beginning of January, after the Alaska Airlines incident, Kayak assured that the use of this tool had increased 15-fold.