As frustration grows over delivery delays, Emirates has expressed its willingness to consider more Boeing 787 Dreamliners in place of late-arriving 777X jets.
Emirates Open To Swapping Delayed 777X For 787
Boeing’s 777X program is three years behind schedule and Emirates is not happy about it. Despite the pandemic, Emirates is forecasting long-term growth and planned that around a refreshed fleet of 777 jets. But production delays, supply shortages, and distractions from the 737MAX disaster have resulted in a multi-year delay on the program.
In 2019, Emirates reduced its 777X order from 150 to 126 jets in a deal in which the Dubai-based carrier also ordered 30 Dreamliners. This week, Emirates met with Boeing to discuss aircraft orders. Asked about the possibility of ordering more 787s, Emirates’ Chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum told Reuters:
“It is always a possibility.
“We are assessing our fleet requirements as we speak.”
Sheikh Ahmed has led Emirates since 1985 and also noted that Emirates has only carried about 30% of the passengers in the fiscal year which just ended than in previous years. Yet he sees optimism in pent-up travel demand:
“A lot of people [who] stopped travelling for the last year and a half … want to travel.”
But any routes resumptions will be based upon demand and border re-openings:
“We don’t just open a route for the sake of opening or just for a publicity reason.”
CONCLUSION
Emirates has a fleet of over 100 Airbus A380 aircraft and is not in immediate need for new aircraft. However, the carrier is thinking long-term and recognizes, especially in a post-pandemic world, that a smaller Dreamliner may make sense on more routes. Looks for Emirates to use Boeing’s long-running delays to negotiate a particularly sweet deal for more 787s.
I have a feeling that the supposed 320 ‘firm’ orders for the 777X aren’t all that firm and will be gradually eroding away. As usual, Boeing has misjudged and mistimed the market, Honestly, I don’t see this model doing any better than the A380; perhaps even worse as the A380 at least had a “wow” factor with the public that folding wingtips aren’t going to equal.
Boeing blew it long ago by updating their bread-and-butter 737 into the Frankenstein MAX rather than spending the cash to design a new, modern aircraft. They also blew it by killing off the 757 (which is where the MAX concept should have gone). The 777X is turning out to be an answer to a question that few airlines are asking, leaving the 787 as their sole successful new widebody.
That’s nice, but Airbus has a much stronger portfolio of competitive choices for airlines at this point and I’d bet the bank that Emirates would love to have dumped most of those 777X orders and gone for the A350 series instead. That’s not financially prudent, so they’re getting the 787. Damage control on their part.
Unless Boeing revamps their executive suite, they’re going to end up as primarily a defense contractor (as McDonnel Douglas became) and not particularly competitive in commercial aviation. And that would be bad for everybody.
Issue is Boeing can not seem to get out of its way. They so badly need new competent leadership and until they do BA is number 2 and in danger of slipping to 3 behind the Chinese. Interesting they haven’t seemed to have changed much since I was in the AF and ealing with their crappy issues then and attitudes. Yep we know better than you thats what we heard from them
With the changing aviation world, I think airlines will need smaller more efficient aircraft, rather than larger. The 777x may be DOA.
Agree with @stogieguy that Boeing really blew it with the 737 MAX fiasco and the 757. In the 757, they had the exact plane they were trying to stretch the 737 into–a newer design, room for even larger engines if needed, and performance they can never hope to get with the 737 MAX. The engineering design process lapses that allowed the 737 MAX to go to initial production were truly mind boggling and inexcusable for a company I had respected like Boeing.
They may also regret dumping the 767, as I now have serious doubts that Boeing currently has the engineering talent and company competence to successfully design a new, clean sheet of paper aircraft. They have badly botched the last 2 relatively minor upgrades they have attempted (737 max AND 777x). They will probably end up milking the 787 for all they can, and then move to becoming primarily a defense contractor as was suggested. Hope I am wrong, but have little faith left in them until they institute a wholesale management change.
Totally agree with Stogieguy7 and Jeil 200%