Sir Tim Clark says Boeing in ‘last chance saloon’ — FT report

Image credit: Emirates

Sir Tim Clark, the President of Emirates Airlines, has warned that US plane manufacturer Boeing is in the “last chance saloon” following years of issues with their aircraft.

Clark made the comments to the Financial Times as he is reportedly preparing to send Emirates engineers to Boeing to oversee its 777 production lines and its supplier Spirit AeroSystems.

Concerns have been growing around the world regarding the quality of Boeing aircraft. Just last month, the emergency door of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX blew open during take-off, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing.

New issue reported with Boeing’s 737 Max

Reuters has also reported a new safety issue with the 737 Max fuselage that was discovered and reported on Sunday.

Boeing said on Sunday it will have to do more work on about 50 undelivered 737 MAX airplanes, potentially delaying near-term deliveries, after its supplier Spirit AeroSystems SPR.N discovered two mis-drilled holes on some fuselages.

Boeing confirmed the findings in response to a Reuters query after industry sources said a spacing problem had been discovered in holes drilled on a window frame, but the jetmaker said safety was unaffected and existing 737s could keep flying.

“This past Thursday, a supplier notified us of a non-conformance in some 737 fuselages. I want to thank an employee at the supplier who flagged to his manager that two holes may not have been drilled exactly to our requirements,” Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stan Deal said in a letter to staff.

“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 airplanes,” Deal said.

The checks focus on potentially incorrect positioning of two holes on a window frame assembly supplied by Spirit, a condition known as “short edge margin,” the sources said.

As of Friday, the “non-conformance” or quality defect had been found in 22 fuselages – nearly half of the 47 inspected up that point in production systems spread between Boeing and Spirit – and may exist in some 737s in service, they added.

The figures Deal supplied to employees on Sunday suggest that the inspections proceeded rapidly and that the problem affects a minority of the hundreds of fuselages in the pipeline.

“As part of our 360-degree quality management program, a member of our team identified an issue that does not conform to engineering standards,” a Spirit AeroSystems spokesperson said.

The findings came to light in a routine notification known as a Notice of Escapement, in which suppliers notify Boeing of any known or suspected quality slip, the sources said.

Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crash

In 2018, a 737 MAX 8 operated by Lion Air also crashed after takeoff in Indonesia, killing all 189 people on board. In 2019, a 737 MAX 8 operated by Ethiopian Airlines crashed after departure from Addis Ababa, killing all 157 people on board. Amid all these incidents, Boeing has maintained that its aircraft are safe.

“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. I’m sure [chief executive] Dave Calhoun and [commercial head] Stan Deal are on that . . . this is the last chance saloon,” Clark told the Financial Times (FT).

The FT further reported that Emirates is among Boeing’s biggest customers.

In November, Emirates placed an order for 95 wide-body Boeing 777 and 787 jets, used for long-haul flights, valued at $52bn at list prices.