Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has warned the Irish airline could delay deliveries of Boeing aircraft if they become more expensive, setting up a battle between manufacturers and airlines over who will shoulder the costs from Donald Trump’s trade war. 

“If tariffs are imposed on those aircraft, there’s every likelihood we may delay the delivery,” O’Leary told the Financial Times. Ryanair is due to receive another 25 aircraft from Boeing from August but does not need the planes until “kind of March, April 2026”, he added. “We might delay them and hope that common sense will prevail.”

His comments highlight how Trump’s tariffs are already hitting the aerospace industry, putting billions of dollars’ worth of aircraft deliveries at risk and straining supply chains.