Boeing in ‘last chance saloon’ following latest safety issues, warns Emirates

Emirates airline will send its own engineers to observe the production process of Boeing’s 777 aircraft and fuselage supplier Spirit AeroSystems amid the latest safety issues.

The Dubai airline’s president Tim Clark said Boeing had let its production standards slip.

The aircraft maker was in the “last chance saloon”, Mr Clark told the Financial Times.

“They have got to instil this safety culture which is second to none. They’ve got to get their manufacturing processes under review so there are no corners cut etc,” he said.

“I’m sure [chief executive] Dave Calhoun and [commercial head] Stan Deal are on that … this is the last chance saloon.”

Emirates is one of Boeing’s largest customers. In November, it placed an order for 95 Boeing 777X jets and Boeing 787 Dreamliners, valued at $52 billion at list prices.

The airline’s 777X deliveries – now totalling 205 aircraft – have been delayed for five years due to plane certification and engine issues.

Deliveries of the first 777X-9 aircraft are expected to start in 2025, while handovers of the 777X-8 will begin in 2030.

The delivery delays have led Emirates to refurbish its Airbus A380s and existing Boeing 777s to extend the life of the aircraft.

Mr Clark’s comments come after Boeing reported another problem regarding mis-drilled holes on some fuselages of its 737 jets that might further delay deliveries of about 50 aircraft. The 737 programme is already under scrutiny from regulators after a door plug on a Boeing 737 Max 9 jet blew off on an Alaska Airlines flight in January, shortly after take-off.

That flight, with 177 people on board, made an emergency landing at Portland International Airport in Oregon.

The General Civil Aviation Authority said no UAE airline operating the Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft was affected by the technical malfunction.

Shares at Boeing have declined 17 per cent this year.

On Monday, Mr Deal, who is also Boeing’s executive vice president, said one of its suppliers notified the company about “two holes may not have been drilled exactly to our requirements”.

“While this potential condition is not an immediate flight safety issue and all 737s can continue operating safely, we currently believe we will have to perform rework on about 50 undelivered planes.”

The FAA grounded 171 Max 9s after the Alaska Airlines incident and said it was investigating Boeing’s manufacturing practices and production lines, including those involving Spirit AeroSystems.

Last month, Mr Deal said that Boeing would open its factories to airline customers “to review our production and quality procedures”.

In its most recent update, the FAA said “all 737-9 MAX aircraft with door plugs will remain grounded pending the FAA’s review and final approval of an inspection and maintenance process that satisfies all FAA safety requirements”.