DUBLIN, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Ryanair thinks February or thestart of March is the most realistic timetable for it to startflying the grounded Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, CEO Michael O'Learysaid on Thursday.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) needs to approveproposed software and training changes by Boeing for thebest-selling plane that has been grounded since March in theaftermath of two fatal crashes in five months.
Major U.S. airlines have cancelled flights of the MAX intoDecember, while Southwest Airlines Co has cancelledflights into early January.
Ryanair, which is one of the biggest customers for the MAXwith 135 firm aircraft orders and 75 options, thinks January isa best-case but unlikely scenario.
After the FAA has finished its review, the plane will needapproval by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) andthe MAX200 model flown by Ryanair will require additionalapprovals.
"The best outlook is the first aircraft would come inJanuary. The more realistic outcome: the end of February/March,"O'Leary told journalists after the airline's annual generalmeeting.
"If it flies in North America this side of Christmas, Ithink we are pretty secure we will be back flying some time(around) end-February/March," he said.
O'Leary said the current delivery timetable depends onBoeing getting approval for service in the United States towardsthe end of November "we believe we are about two months behindthat," he said.
O'Leary said he "would hope" to see the FAA and EASA certifythe aircraft together, but that was not certain.
"I think they (the FAA and EASA) are largely on the samepage but they don't agree on everything," O'Leary said. "It isclear that at the moment most of Boeing's time and effort isfocused on addressing the FAA first, because until the FAAcertifies it, it is not an issue for EASA."
Ryanair has already cut the number of MAX planes it will flyin the summer of 2020 to 30 from 60 and further delays couldlead to further cuts, he said.
But he added that Ryanair was in a good position to retrainpilots on any systems updates as it has two MAX simulators.
If the MAX was never certified, it would be "devastating"for the industry due to order backlogs at the major aircraftmanufacturers, he said.
"What's our Plan B? We don't have a Plan B," O'Leary said.(Reporting by Conor Humphries; editing by Jason Neely andElaine Hardcastle)