Emirates plans to hold a "serious conversation" with Boeing in the next two months after the troubled US plane maker again pushed back the delivery date for its 777X, delaying its largest wide-body aircraft by about six years.
Boeing chief executive Kelly Ortberg, who joined the company in August, said on Friday that the company told airlines it would delay the debut of its 777X aircraft until 2026, slipping from an earlier delivery date in 2025. He attributed the delay to challenges in the programme development, a pause in the flight test and strikes by union workers.
"Given the Type Inspection Authorisation halt on the 777X with no clear timeline for the restart, coupled with strikes entering a fourth week, I fail to see how Boeing can make any meaningful forecasts of delivery dates," Emirates airline's president Tim Clark said in a statement on Monday.
The plane is crucial to its future wide-body fleet. The world's largest long-haul airline has built its fleet on the Boeing 777 and Airbus A380s, but the 777X is long delayed and Airbus has ceased production of the A380.
"Emirates has had to make significant and highly expensive amendments to our fleet programmes as a result of Boeing's multiple contractual shortfalls and we will be having a serious conversation with them over the next couple of months," Mr Clark said.
The airline plans to spend more than $3 billion to give 191 Boeing 777 and A380 aircraft "a full facelift" as part of a major retrofitting programme to extend the lifespan of the aircraft. When the project is complete, the airline will have installed 8,104 next-generation premium economy seats, 1,894 refreshed first-class suites, 11,182 upgraded business-class seats and 21,814 economy-class seats.
The 777X is the industry's biggest twin-engine plane, with about 400 seats, but its entry into service has been pushed back by six years because of various problems, including certification delays.
Mr Clark said at the Farnborough Airshow in July that he did not expect the first of the Boeing 777X aircraft to enter commercial service before 2026. His comments on Monday echo frustrations by other airline chiefs awaiting delivery of the planes amid strong demand for air travel.
Aircraft delays have become a major concern across the industry, with Boeing's European rival Airbus also falling behind in delivery schedules. As a result, airlines have to keep older aircraft in operation for longer, often retrofitting them at a significant cost.
Etihad Airways will start a programme to retrofit its older Boeing 777 wide-bodies from 2026, Etihad Aviation Group chief executive Antonoaldo Neves told the Global Aerospace Summit in Abu Dhabi last month.
