LONDON -- Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Leary called on Tuesday for a revamp of Boeing management after the mid-air blowout of a cabin panel in an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9, but said senior leaders should stay.
O'Leary, whose airline is one of Boeing's largest customers with hundreds of MAX aircraft on order, told a news conference that Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun and its chief financial officer had his "full confidence and support."
But he later told Reuters that Boeing needed more hands-on management at its production hub in Seattle to improve quality control and oversight through the whole manufacturing process.
O'Leary added the head of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Stan Deal, was mostly a "sales guy" and that Boeing needed leadership present at its Seattle area production facility every day.
"When Stan is travelling - and he does a lot of travelling - who is minding the shop in Seattle?" O'Leary said. 鈥淲e need somebody in Seattle cracking heads, ensuring quality, making sure that aircraft are rolling off the production line on the day they're supposed to roll off the production line.鈥�
Boeing referred to comments made by Deal on Monday, when he laid out additional steps the company would take to improve quality assurance.
Calhoun, who has led the company since 2020, told employees last week that the company had to ensure an accident like the door plug blowout 鈥渃an never happen again."
Analysts have said ongoing MAX 9 investigations could ratchet up the pressure for management changes among Boeing's top executives.
"We would not be surprised to see regulators, investors and customers push for a turnover in the ranks of senior management and the Board of Directors," said Bank of America's Ron Epstein in a Tuesday morning note to investors.
But O'Leary said there was no one to replace Calhoun in the short term and current senior management should remain for 12-18 months to deliver on safety and quality.
"I'm not calling for anybody's resignation," he said.
O'Leary also said he would like to see Boeing's head office moved back to Seattle from Virginia.
He added that, for the past two years, Ryanair had been calling for Boeing to increase numbers of quality control engineers and that it had promised to do so last week.
O'Leary also said Ryanair had seen a marked improvement in the quality of aircraft deliveries from Boeing, with fewer defects in recent months.
