Skift Take
Emirates President Tim Clark clearly had an agenda on Wednesday speaking with the media. He said he is tired of reliability challenges with new airplanes, and he wants suppliers to get their act together — quickly. Somebody had to say it.
Emirates President Tim Clark on Wednesday sharply criticized Boeing and Airbus along with engine suppliers Rolls-Royce and General Electric for failing to make reliable products, saying the companies may lose business as the global economy slows and airlines become more selective about which planes they will accept.
"I am a little bit irritated that, over the years, we as an airline, and I think as the industry, have been subjected to the requirements of the propulsion manufacturers, and to an extent the airframe manufacturers, where we are expected to deal with quality control issues and design issues, and operate these aircraft and engines, and take whatever consequences there are when they don't work," Clark said during a briefing in London, where he was attending the Aviation Festival. "We are not in a business to deal with aircraft that don't function properly."
Clark's comments come as Emirates, its fleet long dominated by mammoth Airbus A380s, prepares for a future in which it flies more dual-engined jets and fewer four-engine superjumbos. Over the past six years, Emirates has placed orders for, or expressed serious interest in, the newest jets produced by Boeing and Airbus, such as the Airbus A350, Airbus 330neo, Boeing 777X and Boeing 787.
On Wednesday, however, Clark warned the manufacturers he won’t take any of the jets until Airbus and Boeing
