IAMAW Strike Affects 2006 Flights

Irish no-frills airline Ryanair announced Tuesday it was trimming its flight schedule during the first three months of 2006 due to late deliveries of new aircraft from Boeing.

The delay, which Ryanair said was caused by a series of strikes at Boeing earlier this year, means the airline would lose about 100,000 passengers per month under the new schedule, cutting overall traffic in the current fiscal year to under 35 million passengers.

Ryanair has actually been dealing with affects of delayed deliveries to the airline's bases in Italy and England for several months, filling the gaps with additional flights of the airline's older 737-200s. Those aircraft now face retirement , even as Ryanair doesn't have the planes to replace them.

As was extensively reported in Aero-News, a major strike by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers shut down Boeing production lines just as the company was ramping up to accommodate a spate of new orders for the manufacturer, which is having a banner sales year.

"These schedule changes will not affect Ryanair's profit guidance for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006," assured Deputy Chief Executive Michael Cawley, according to Reuters. Cawley added schedules would return to normal by April.

Investors weren't assured, though, as Ryaniair shares fell over one percent following the announcement.

FMI: www.ryanair.com