Boeing 737 Max trouble leads to cuts at Europe’s busiest airline

LONDON — Europe’s biggest airline, budget carrier Ryanair, will cut flights and close some of its bases beginning this winter because of the delay to deliveries of the Boeing 737 Max plane, which has been grounded globally after two fatal crashes.

The airline also warned Tuesday that its growth in European summer traffic for 2020 will be lower than expected because of the slowed deliveries.

Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary said the airline “remains committed” to the Boeing 737 Max and expects it to be back in service before the end of the year but that the date is uncertain.

Ryanair, which is Europe’s top airline by passengers, says some delays are expected and doubts about when the plane can return to the skies means it will take delivery of only 30 Max jets a year from now, rather than the previously scheduled 58.

He says the airline will close some of its bases as a result with a hope to return to “normal” growth levels in 2021. No details about the planned base cuts were provided.

Analysts at market research firm FXPro note that while Europe’s economy is slowing, there is no lack of demand for flying, so Ryanair’s decision could cause airfare to rise somewhat.

Boeing’s 737 Max has been grounded after the Lion Air crash off the coast of Indonesia in October and the Ethiopian Airlines crash in March that killed a total of 346 people.

Preliminary reports indicate that flight-control software called MCAS pushed the nose of the plane down in both crashes. Boeing did not tell pilots about MCAS until after the first crash. The company is working on changes to make the software more reliable and easier to control.