Emirates airline boss sees positive progress at troubled boeing

BusinessEmirates airline boss sees positive progress at troubled BoeingBy ReutersPublishedJune 1, 2025, 3:47 p.m. ET

The head of the world’s largest international airline, Dubai’s Emirates, said on Sunday there were positive signs of progress at Boeing, having previously voiced frustration over delays in

delivery of new jetliners from the planemaker.

Emirates President Tim Clark said he was seeing a greater degree of determination from Boeing to resolve its many issues under a recently appointed CEO, and management had indicated cautious

optimism over its recovery in discussion with Emirates.

Boeing is trying to stabilize and ramp up production after a quality crisis and then labor strike shuttered production of most of its aircraft last year.

said he was seeing greater determination from Boeing to resolve its issues. AFP via Getty Images

Boeing is also awaiting certification from the US Federal Aviation Administration for its 777X wide-body plane, of which Emirates has 205 on order. Deliveries of the 777X are set to start in

2026, six years behind schedule.

Emirates has been told it could receive its first 777X any time between the second half of 2026 and the first quarter of 2027, Clark said, adding that he was sensing a more positive tone

from Boeing on the plane’s progress.

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Boeing and European planemaker Airbus are months and years behind on new plane deliveries, frustrating airlines that want to upgrade to more fuel-efficient aircraft and launch new services.

Speaking at a news briefing on the sidelines of an International Air Transport Association summit, Clark said the industry was still facing chronic aerospace supply problems and challenged

planemakers to take responsibility.

“I am pretty tired of seeing the hand-wringing about the supply chain: you (manufacturers) are the supply chain,” Clark said.

Last week, sources told Reuters that Airbus has been warning airlines it faces another three years of delivery delays in working through a backlog of supply-chain problems.

competitor Airbus are months and years behind on new plane deliveries. via REUTERS

Clark said the pandemic was no longer an acceptable excuse.

“It’s a highly consolidated industry…I don’t think they’ve managed to strip out the inefficiencies of the smaller units they brought together,” he said of the largest aerospace firms.

Emirates has not yet seen a shift in demand patterns as a result of President Trump’s tariff war, Clark told an annual meeting of the IATA.

Clark said he expected U.S. manufacturer GE Aerospace, which makes engines for some of Emirates’ planes, to absorb a lot of the impact from tariffs into its own margins.

seen a shift in demand due to President Trump’s tariffs, according to the head of the carrier. REUTERS

GE is Emirates’ main engine supplier. It has said that it is passing along tariff costs to customers in the form of a surcharge.

Clark has previously expressed frustration with its other engine supplier, Britain’s Rolls-Royce RR.L, because some engine models have struggled with maintenance problems when operating in

the world’s hottest climates.

On Sunday, Clark said opportunities still exist in the Gulf region for Rolls-Royce if it can deliver the required performance.

He left open whether a potential deal for Rolls-powered Airbus A350-1000 jets, which faltered over the durability of their engines at the Dubai Airshow in 2023, would be ready in time for

the next edition in November this year.

“I am not sure about that,” he told reporters.

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