(Bloomberg) -- Ryanair Holdings Plc Chief Executive Officer Michael O’Leary gave a pessimistic outlook for Boeing Co.’s resumption of deliveries for its grounded 737 Max, saying the carrier has frozen payments to the manufacturer and started talks on recouping costs of the delay.

Deliveries of the aircraft could slip “another couple of months” to the first quarter next year, he told an annual shareholders’ meeting Thursday, calling it the biggest operational challenge currently facing the discount airline. He said he still expects to have about 30 in 2020.

Ryanair had already warned it would close some European bases and shrink others in response to concerns around Brexit and delays with Boeing Max deliveries. The aircraft was grounded following two fatal accidents, and there’s no firm date when regulators will allow the resumption of flights.

O’Leary also said he’s not planning to retire soon. The shares were down 0.4% to 9.90 euros at 9:53 a.m. in Dublin.

To contact the reporter on this story: Peter Flanagan in Dublin at pflanagan23@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tara Patel at tpatel2@bloomberg.net, Benedikt Kammel

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