Before President Trump’s latest round of tariffs, commercial aircraft and components had moved duty-free between the United States and its trading partners since 1979. But new levies on Chinese imports and retaliatory duties from Beijing have unsettled the global aviation supply chain. Now Ryanair is prepared to upend its own fleet plans.
In a letter dated May 1, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary informed Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) that, “if the U.S. government persists in imposing tariffs, and if these tariffs affect prices for Boeing aircraft exported to Europe, we will need to reassess this order.” The budget carrier has already taken delivery of over 600 Boeing 737 family jets and has firm commitments for another 330 aircraft valued at roughly $33 billion at list prices due for delivery over the next ten years.
Although O’Leary has not yet engaged Chinese manufacturers, he told Reuters that he “might consider” shifting part of Ryanair’s future order if Beijing’s Comac can offer competitive terms and if U.S. duties render Boeing uneconomical.
Nor is Ryanair alone in its unease. Delta Air Lines reports importing its Airbus A320neos via Japan where a smaller tariff applies to protect its bottom line, and American Airlines has similarly vowed not to absorb any duties on its incoming European jets.
Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury sounded a parallel warning at the company’s first-quarter results conference. He vowed that Airbus would not pass U.S. tariffs on to its airline customers, noting: “This situation is not good for Airbus or the European industry or for the U.S. industry either.” Faury confirmed that Airbus is seeking ways to minimise the additional costs on components shuttled between its U.S. plant in Mobile, Alabama, and its European assembly lines in Toulouse and Hamburg.
As both manufacturers and carriers brace for the potential fallout, the aviation industry finds itself caught in a transatlantic standoff one that could reshape long-standing aircraft procurement strategies and supply-chain partnerships on both sides of the Atlantic.
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