Ryanair says Boeing strike delays route launch

Ryanair said Tuesday that a strike at Boeing Co. has forced it to delay the launch of new flight routes from Edinburgh, Scotland, by six weeks.

The Irish airline said Boeing is unable to deliver the new 737 aircraft the carrier needs to operate its new routes from Edinburgh to various European destinations.

Ryanair's deputy chief executive Michael Cawley said the airline would be able to run the new routes with aircraft from its existing fleet from November 5, six weeks later than it had planned. It will refund passengers who are due to travel before that date.

Ryanair Holdings PLC is one of Boeing's biggest customers for the 737 aircraft and flies an all-737 fleet.

Boeing's commercial aircraft assembly plants have been shuttered since its machinists union went on strike Saturday following the collapse of contract negotiations. The union represents 27,000 hourly production workers, including 25,000 in the greater Seattle area.

Boeing spokesman Tim Healy said: "Certainly we recognize that we're going to be missing deliveries, we're going to be unable to fulfill our commitments, and we deeply regret the inconvenience to our customers."