It’s quite a moment when the world’s leading supplier of commercial airliners is told that its latest jet is fit only to be repurposed into baked bean cans. But that ignominy was unleashed on Boeing executives this week by the president of Emirates, the world’s fourth-largest airline.
Sir Tim Clark gave his withering assessment on Boeing’s new 777X wide-bodied jets, while also refusing to accept the ten that his airline had ordered as long ago as 2013.
Boeing has viewed the jet as the successor to the original 777, pledging it would “maximise efficiency and environmental performance while providing an exceptional experience”. But Clark told reporters at the Farnborough Air Show: “We’re not taking that batch, and that’s it.”
“What they do with them is up to them,” he added, before suggesting that “Heinz would be interested” in turning the jets into repositories for food.
Emirates’ frustration towards the 777X is rooted in the years that Boeing has spent modifying and correcting the plane’s design. Clark said he had first set foot inside an early, fully configured version in 2019, but claimed the numerous design changes since had rendered the earliest batch to roll off the production line outdated and impractical.
