The head of Emirates Airline has warned Boeing is in its “last chance saloon” over manufacturing quality, in an interview with Financial Times.
Sir Tim Clark, president of Emirates, said he has seen a “progressive decline” in Boeing’s standards in recent years, the report said, adding that he puts this down to long-running issues around management and priorities at the company.
Emirates is one of Boeing’s biggest customers. In November it ordered 95 Boeing wide-body jets in a $52 billion deal.
However, Clark says Emirates will now send its own engineers to directly oversee production of the Boeing 777 at the manufacturer and supplier Spirit AeroSystems.
“The fact that we’re having to do that is testament to what has happened. This would not have been sanctioned in the old days. You know, we trusted these people implicitly to get it done,” he said.
He told the Financial Times that Boeing needs a “root and branch” review of its manufacturing processes.
Emirates’ call for quality and safety
Clark also called for quality and safety to be the “priority of everybody on the board,” rather than financial targets.
Last month a section of fuselage blew out on a Boeing 737 Max mid-flight, in an incident still under investigation.
He added that “only time will tell” if the new management can put the company “house in order”.
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