KRAKOW, Poland, March 28 (Reuters) - Ryanair CEO

Michael O'Leary said he wants Boeing's ( BA ) new head of

commercial airplanes division Stephanie Pope to stay in the role

to fix production problems rather than be considered a contender

as the planemaker's new head.

O'Leary said the identity of the next CEO was secondary to

the need for Boeing ( BA ) to address the problems that have caused

delivery delays and pushed back his airline's aggressive growth

plans.

But he still said he would prefer Boeing ( BA ) CEO Dave Calhoun to

stay on to complete the turnaround. Calhoun said on Monday he

would step down by the year-end following the departure of

company's commercial planemaking chief and its chairman.

"No, no, no. We want her in Seattle," O'Leary told reporters

when asked if Pope, who was named in her new role this week,

should be considered as a successor for Calhoun.

"The problems in Boeing ( BA ) will be fixed if you fix aircraft

production in Seattle. It doesn't matter to us who runs the

overall business in Virginia, because whoever runs the main bit,

that's dealing with government and dealing with defence stuff.

We need somebody in Seattle managing the production in Seattle."

"I'm happy with the management changes in Seattle. I would

prefer that Dave Calhoun stayed on to complete the turnaround. I

think he's done a good job," he added.

O'Leary has consistently backed Calhoun and has blamed

Boeing's ( BA ) problems on production management.

A revolt by U.S. airline bosses helped to topple Calhoun,

people familiar with the discussions told Reuters.