Boeing Co. will need years to emerge from its current crisis, the biggest buyer of the US manufacturer’s widebody aircraft predicted.
“For me, this will be a five-year hiatus starting from now,” Emirates President Tim Clark said in an interview in Dubai. “I don’t think they will recapture their production line on all aircraft types.”
As a result of the manufacturing issues and delays on new widebody aircraft at the planemaker, Emirates is putting more of its Boeing 777 aircraft through an extensive retrofit program, Clark said. That’s raising the cost of that program to about $3.5 billion from previously $2 billion, he said.
Clark is an influential voice in the aviation industry because his company buys the biggest Boeing and Airbus SE aircraft in greater numbers than any other carrier. The executive has publicly used his status to point out performance issues at the two manufacturers, the only builders of large planes used on global routes.
Boeing’s 777-9 model, of which Emirates has ordered more than 100 units, is about five years late, and Clark said he has “no visibility” on a new time frame, most recently scheduled for mid 2025.
The carrier is “extremely exasperated” with Boeing as delays are obstructing the airline’s growth plans, Clark said, adding that he plans to meet Stephanie Pope, the new head of Boeing’s commercial aircraft subsidiary, in Dubai in coming days.
Emirates is in no rush to add more Airbus A350 widebodies to its order book, Clark said. That’s after the airline purchased the model only in relatively small numbers at the Dubai Air Show in November because Clark wasn’t satisfied with the performance of the Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc engines. Clark said he was previously prepared to add 35 units to his order book.
“It’s a great plane,” Clark said of the A350 model. “But you’ve got to get it somewhere where you can put your hand on your heart” about the model’s performance.
“And I’m not sure they’re in a position to do that right now,” Clark said.
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