Ryanair Backs Away From Boeing Jet Order
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Ryanair has ended talks to purchase tens of billions of dollars of Boeing jets amid a stand-off over the price.
The Irish budget airline had been in talks to buy as many as 250 planes of the 737 Max 10 model but said yesterday that the talks had collapsed.
But have Michael O’Leary and Boeing fallen out over hydrogen?
Consider.
- Many countries in Ryanair’s largest markets are aiming to go net carbon-free by 2050 or even earlier. Scotland is aiming for 2045.
- An airliner delivered today will still be flying twenty or even thirty years later.
- I believe that by 2030, small airliners up to thirty passengers will be zero-carbon.
In Could An A320 neo Be Rebuilt As A ZEROe Turbofan?, I came to this conclusion.
I very much feel that there will be a route to convert some or all of the A 320 neo aircraft to hydrogen power.
If Airbus can offer an airliner, that can be rebuilt as a hydrogen-powered plane that must change the economics of purchasing a fleet of airliners, which could be made worthless by worldwide carbon emission legislation.
Because the Boeing aircraft is a 1960s design with an aluminium airframe, I would doubt it is designed to be converted to hydrogen power.
The Anonymous Widower 
The 737 Max is already on the way out with Boeing working on its successor using the same composite materials technology for the airframe as Airbus, so as you say any interesting engine development will only come with the advent of the Max’s replacement in the early 2030s
Comment by fammorris | September 7, 2021 |
The 737 should have been on its way out a long time ago. I remember reading in Flight International, that the 737-500 or one of the earlier variants had aerodynamic problems that they fixed it with an unusual aerodynamic and balance fix on the wing.
Comment by AnonW | September 7, 2021 |
The fallout was over price according to Ryanair. And any hydrogen plane will have to have far superior aerodynamics and lower weight compared to conventional aircraft. Airbus details their plans here. https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/airbus-tells-eu-hydrogen-wont-be-widely-used-planes-before-2050-2021-06-10/
Comment by William McIntyre | September 7, 2021