MAX - EASA lar seg ikke presse av O`Leary - Curt Lewis

EU Air-Safety Regulator Denies Dragging Out Review of Boeing Max

• EASA chief says he won't bend to pressure from Ryanair
• Ky: 'If Mr. O'Leary doesn't like it, that's his problem'

Europe's air-safety regulator defended its scrutiny of Boeing Co.'s grounded 737 Max after one of the model's biggest customers said the agency has become an obstacle to the jet's return.

European Union Aviation Safety Agency Executive Director Patrick Ky hit back at claims from Ryanair Holdings Plc chief Michael O'Leary that the authority is "dragging its heels" over the Max, saying it's simply fulfilling its obligations.

"If Mr. O'Leary doesn't like it, that's his problem, but it's not going to put pressure on me to go faster, I can assure you," Ky said in an interview in Helsinki. "We are doing what we think is right."

Tensions are running high as the Max's idling after two fatal crashes threatens to extend into next year, hurting carriers that are relying on the model to lift margins. Ryanair has 135 orders for the jet and says it may get only 20 of the 60 due for next summer even if the revamped 737 flies again by Christmas.

With the crisis surrounding the Max posing a challenge to the FAA's credibility, other regulators have followed EASA's lead on assessing the plane's safety.

Ky said that the way forward is now clearer than it was a few months ago but that EASA needs to analyze Boeing's proposed modifications to the Max's systems, software, components and operational procedures.

Pilot Training
"We need to assess whether the changes have been safely made," he said. "We also need to determine what will be the operational requirements, meaning training requirements for the pilots. That will be one of the key decisions."

O'Leary said on Bloomberg TV that EASA is moving more slowly than the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, which is leading scrutiny of the Max. The Cologne, Germany-based agency has also avoided meeting with a Max users' group in Europe and needs "to move with a little more pace," he said.

Boeing has been upgrading software on the Max that was linked to the crashes at Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines, and has said it expects that the plane will be cleared to fly this year. Ky reiterated suggestions that EASA may take longer to get the model back into service while it checks through the fixes.

"Our latest plans are pointing at a date for our decision to be in January 2020," he said. "As far as I know, the FAA was planning on December. If we have a couple of weeks of time difference I don't think it's a major problem."

Ky said the U.S. regulator's own schedule has slipped after it originally suggested the Max might return to service in May, adding that EASA is equally eager to wrap things up, with 25 staff who are working on the topic "starting to really want to take normal holidays and to have other projects."

'Confident'
O'Leary said earlier that Boeing and the FAA "haven't been easy to deal with" in recent months but that the manufacturer -- who he speaks with "once a week" -- has identified and rectified the issues with the plane.

"We are one of the airlines with a Max simulator here in Europe," he said. "We're very confident that this aircraft is safe. The regulators need to work with us as an industry to get this aircraft back flying."

Ryanair said it now expects to get its first Max jets in March or April rather than January or February, based on the model getting clearance to fly in North America before Christmas.

The delays are holding back expansion and causing Ryanair to extend leases and hold off on selling older planes, Chief Financial Officer Neil Sorahan said. The airline will also close bases and cut job cuts to make up for slower capacity growth and the absence of fuel efficiencies from the Max.

Ryanair rose the most in five years after beating quarterly earnings estimates and refining its full-year profit guidance, with O'Leary saying he's more optimistic about future operating conditions.