Ryanair shares soar above €21 despite disruption to Boeing deliveries this summer

Ryanair shares rose almost 4% to close above the key €21 level that could set up Michael O’Leary for a €100m payout

Michael O’Leary could benefit from a will see him staying on at the airline to 2028 in return for a €100m incentive that will be triggered if Ryanair’s after tax profit tops €2.2bn and/or the share price trades above €21 for any 28-day period to the end of March, 2028.

Ryanair shares soared almost 4% to close well above a key €21 level that may set up chief executive Michael O’Leary to qualify for a €100m shares-based incentive payout, despite the disruption caused to growth plans amid delayed plane orders from troubled Boeing.

Boeing and its airline customers that placed large orders have been under scrutiny from investors since early January when regulators capped the number of Max planes that Boeing can produce after a panel blew off an airborne Boeing Max plane in the US.

Ryanair and other big users of Boeing around the world — including United Airlines, Southwest, Emirates, and Lion Air — have large unfilled orders with the US plane maker. Some airlines including Ryanair have been forced to cut back planned services this year because of the disruption to new plane deliveries.

An engine cover on a Boeing plane that fell off on Sunday during take-off in Denver and struck the wing flap, prompting the the US Federal Aviation Administration to open an investigation, was the latest incident to attract media headlines. However, the surge in Ryanair shares to €21.60 on Monday suggests that investors believe that the fallout for profitability of the airline will be limited in the short term, despite the delayed delivery of planes from Boeing.

The €21-a-share price takes on additional significance because it brings Mr O’Leary into touching distance of triggering a potential shares-based incentive worth €100m. The chief executive struck a revised deal in late 2022 that will see him staying on at the airline to 2028 in return for an incentive scheme that will be triggered should Ryanair’s after tax profit tops €2.2bn and/or the share price trades above €21 for any 28-day period to the end of March, 2028.

Mr O’Leary won’t be able the collect the incentive should he leave before then.

In 2027, Ryanair is looking to start taking delivery of the first planes from a huge order of yet-to-be-certified Boeing Max 10 planes to drive growth plans into the 2030s. 

Following the scrutiny over Boeing since January, analysts believe that regulators will unlikely have the new Max 10s certified this year. 

Last year, Ryanair placed an order for 150 Max 10s and placed an option for a further 150 Max 10s which it said at the time would secure a large share of Europe’s short haul market by 2034.