Contract Issues With cargolux Apparently Serious Enough To Kill Official Delivery

It's kinda like getting left at the altar... With little in the way of actual detail to explain the problem, Boeing has called off the much-ballyhooed celebration for the delivery of their 1st B747-8... because the customer, Cargolux, is unhappy.

Just yesterday (Wednesday) Boeing exec Randy Tinseth (appointed VP, Marketing, for Boeing Commercial Airplanes in April 2007) blogged that, "While final preps are underway for Monday’s first delivery of the 747-8 Freighter to our launch customer Cargolux, there’s a bit of a party atmosphere around the Everett factory right now. Monday will be packed with a lot of pomp and circumstance as the Freighter flies away, but there’s also something very special planned during an employee event on Tuesday. A super top secret guest will be on hand to provide the entertainment to everyone at the Everett site. I won’t spoil the surprise—but let’s just say if you follow my taste in music, this guest is right up my alley."

By late Thursday, though, the tune had changed and it wasn't a happy one as Tinseth updated... "Just yesterday, I was telling you about all the excitement leading up to first delivery of the 747-8 Freighter—including a surprise musical guest who’d be performing for employees. It turns out, that party will have to wait. We still need to work through some contractual issues with our customer Cargolux, so first delivery won’t take place as scheduled on Monday. Employee and media events for next week have also been postponed. While this is disappointing to all of us here at Boeing, we’re working with cargolux to resolve the issues. They’ve been an incredible partner going back a long way. Two decades ago, they became the first carrier worldwide to operate the 747-400 Freighter. It’s only fitting that they became the launch customer of the new 747-8 Freighter.

The 747-8 Freighter is something to celebrate—and we plan on doing just that very soon."

Another Boeing staffer, spokesman Jim Proulx, told local media that, "We have unresolved issues between ourselves and cargolux... We are working with our customer to determine a date for delivery"

As noted, no official details are forthcoming but rumors suggest that cargolux is unhappy with the airplane's ability to meet certain performance guarantees, not exactly an unknown problem for the first versions of a new airplane, but not insurmountable either. We'll keep you informed but we think it prudent that you don't throw away your part hats just yet...

FMI: www.boeing.com, www.cargolux.com