Michael O’Leary, the outspoken and highly quotable chief executive of Ryanair, has called into doubt the airline’s agreement with Boeing if the plane manufacturer does not play ball his way.

Ryanair is one of the few airlines to have substantial cash reserves and the recession, claims O’Leary, has played directly into their hands. The aggressive expansion and discounted ticket prices have placed Ryanair in a unique position of strength.

The latest announcements refer to a deal struck between Ryanair and Boeing which was for an order of 200 new aircraft over a four year period from 2013. However, recent hesitancy by Boeing has led to O’Leary claiming Ryanair will take its money somewhere else if necessary.

O’Leary also said that deferring or cancelling the 15 aircraft ordered for 2010 was also a possibility if talks are not resolved in the near future.

O’Leary said that Boeing does not share Ryanair’s growth philosophy and in order to maximise shareholder return any restrictions on such expansion should be eliminated before the end of the year. The stern statements come on the back of healthy recent profit announcements which see Ryanair with over 2.5 billion Euros to play with. O’Leary has trumpeted the company’s ‘growth during a recession policy’ and uses the media effectively to place pressure on partners and rivals.

Boeing has not commented as their policy is to keep any customer interactions private but rivals such as Airbus must be looking on with interest at developments.