(Bloomberg) -- Emirates President Tim Clark said he’s keeping a close eye on Boeing Co. after the US company consistently missed delivery targets with its aircraft, suggesting one of the manufacturer’s biggest customers is running out of patience waiting for planes.
Speaking at a ceremony to celebrate the arrival of Emirates’ first Airbus SE A350 model, Clark said he’s watching Boeing “very closely” to see how Chief Executive Officer Kelly Ortberg turns the business around.
“We’re a frustrated entity because we need airplanes and we need them now,” Clark said.
Clark has been vocal in his disappointment at both Airbus and Boeing, faulting the two planemakers for being late and providing aircraft that don’t meet his specifications. At the same time, he’s voiced optimism that Boeing can turn around operations after a series of bruising missteps.
The A350 long-range aircraft is the first new aircraft model that the carrier has added to its fleet since 2008. Boeing’s 777X, a still larger plane than Airbus’s flagship model, is now five years behind schedule, and Clark has said he can’t say when it might finally enter service with the Dubai airline.
While the A350 will lack the showers and business class bars that are customer favorites on its workhorse double-decker A380 fleet, it will feature an improved entertainment system, more cargo space and a bigger galley for its cabin crew. The model will first be deployed on services to Edinburgh.
Ortberg took over as Boeing’s CEO in August as the planemaker reeled from a near-catastrophic accident in January that exposed quality lapses at its factories. Clark said he has yet to meet with Ortberg, who has spent his first months on the job touring Boeing factories and overcoming a debilitating strike by workers.
Emirates is spending $4 billion overhauling its existing fleet of A380s and older-generation 777 jets to tide over the delays with the 777X.
Clark is hopeful a cease-fire deal, announced earlier Wednesday between Israel and Hezbollah will allow the carrier to resume flights to Lebanon. He also doesn’t expect President-elect Donald Trump to enforce another travel ban on Muslim countries in his second term.
When the first travel restrictions were introduced in 2017, Emirates had to cut flights to the US after demand dropped following visa restrictions on citizens from Muslim-majority countries and a ban on bringing personal electronics on board from some locations.
“Those are some of the missteps of his first administration,” Clark said. “I can’t see that happening again. It caused absolute mayhem.”
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