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LONDON (Reuters) -Boeing appears to have accepted it will not be able to certify its MAX 10 aircraft by a year-end deadline, but it remains possible that U.S. lawmakers could give it more time, major customer Ryanair told Reuters on Tuesday.
Boeing (NYSE:BA), with which Ryanair says it is negotiating a possible order for up to 200 of the aircraft, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
The U.S. planemaker faces a late December deadline to win approval for the 737 MAX 10, otherwise it must meet new cockpit alerting requirements under a 2020 law unless waived by Congress.
The regulatory issues could force the planemaker to cancel the Max 10, Boeing Chief Executive Dave Calhoun said in July. Last month he said Boeing was working with regulators on the certification by year-end.
“I think Boeing accepts that it won’t get certified by year end, but I suspect that Congress will approve an extension to that certification process out into early 2023,” Ryanair Group Chief Executive Michael O’Leary said in an interview.
“It makes no sense to call on a company like Boeing to redesign the cockpit or redesign safety systems… So I would urge Congress not to demand a redesign,” he added.
A Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson said the agency does not “comment on ongoing certification projects. Please ask Boeing about their schedule.”
The MAX 10 can hold 230 passengers, compared to under 200 on Ryanair’s current order of MAX 8-200 aircraft.
