Says Boeing Needs To Get Its Act Together

When it comes to airline officials who hold significant influence with Boeing and Airbus, Emirates president Tim Clark is perhaps second only to Steven Udvar-Hazy... and like the outspoken chairman of ILFC, Clark is increasingly fed up with the bad news coming out of Seattle regarding the troubled Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Even though Clark's airline doesn't have a single order for the composite plane on its books.

As ANN reported, Boeing announced December 11 the 787's first flight -- originally scheduled for late August 2007 -- won't occur before the second quarter of 2009. That's the fourth significant delay Boeing has announced since late 2007... and the fourth time Boeing all-but admitted its earlier promises about the 787 weren't worth the paper they were written on.

Needless to say, customers have had enough... even airlines like Emirates, which hasn't placed any orders for the 787. Still, in an interview this week with James Wallace of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Clark said as far as he's concerned Boeing has run out of time -- and excuses -- to get the composite-bodied airliner in the air.

"Two years is terrible," Clark said. "There is no question about that. You tend to accept three to six months. But two years ... airlines have fleets predicated on these new airplanes coming in, and then they have to scramble to find different planes to replace those that are late.

"So Boeing really does need to get this one sorted out," he continued. "They have had long enough to get it right. My view is that once they have gotten through first flight and it looks good, then you will see things start to move."

Emirates has experience with significant delays -- the Dubai-based airline was forced to wait two years for its first Airbus A380 superjumbo, which was finally delivered this summer. With 58 orders, Emirates is the largest single customer for the massive airliner; it also has orders for the Airbus A350 XWB, the larger competitor to the 787.

Clark admitted such delays are increasingly common. "If you look at the history of aircraft programs on both sides of the Atlantic, they almost always come to market late," he said, noting Airbus recently pushed off design freeze for the A350 until 2009, a delay that could impact its scheduled 2013 introduction.

"Will the A350 be late? I'm not saying I'm anticipating a delay, but I would not be surprised if it were late," he said. "Like the 787, this is new technology, new engineering. It's a quantum leap in airplane design and production, in new materials. If (Airbus) find it as hard as Boeing has to get the 787 where they want it, then the reality is that it's possible the A350 will be late.

"Just about every program that is announced these days gets delayed," Clark said. '"It seems to be just the way things are. What can we do about it? We can jump up and down and make threats. But what's that going to do? Will it get the planes to us any sooner? I don't think so."

FMI: www.boeing.com, www.airbus.com