Emirates boss supports Boeing-Spirit merger amid factory crisis By Reuters
© Reuters. Emirates President Tim Clark participates in a panel discussion at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Annual General Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, on October 4, 2021. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/file photo
Ilona Wissenbach
BERLIN (Reuters) – Dubai airline Emirates, one of Boeing (NYSE:)’s biggest customers, supports Boeing’s possible acquisition of Spirit Aerosystems (NYSE:), saying it is a step toward resolving the aircraft maker’s industrial crisis. He said it would be.
U.S. regulators conducted a factory audit and reported findings of both Boeing and supplier Spirit after a dummy door on a nearly full 737 MAX 9 airliner dramatically exploded in January.
Emirates President Tim Clark told reporters in Berlin that Boeing must address quality issues as quickly as possible with continued attention from its board and top management or face questions about its future.
Boeing said last week it was in talks to acquire its former subsidiary Spirit. Separately, industry sources said Airbus, the European rival of Spirit and Boeing, had explored acquiring part of Spirit’s division, which supplies parts for Airbus’ jets.
Spirit builds about 70% of the 737 MAX and the forward fuselage for the 787 and future 777X ordered by Emirates. It was spun off from Boeing in 2005.
“I didn’t understand that at the time,” said Clark, one of the industry’s most influential leaders. “It was like saying we were going to take over our engineering and operations and let someone else run it.” ITB Travel Expo.
“This is an abomination to our way of thinking, but I think what they did has been a problem for them ever since.”
Asked how long he thought it would take for Boeing to get back on track, Clark said: “It depends on how many resources you put in. This requires pure focus from the board to the exclusion of everything else.
“They need to solve this problem more than anything else. Don’t worry about anything else, just get this job done, because otherwise the company will fail. Another event like this would almost cripple the company,” he said. , adding that the government and the traveling public expected nothing less.
“I think (Boeing CEO Dave) Calhoun and his colleagues are on board with it, but … it’s up to them,” he said.
Boeing said last week it would develop an action plan that demonstrates “serious change” and that management was fully committed to meeting the challenge.
