Boeing's safety crisis has been brewing for more than a decade, says Emirates chief

Sir Tim Clark said the crisis engulfing Boeing was ten years in the making. Photo: Nathalie Naccache/Bloomberg

Security crisis The head of the world's largest international airline said the takeover of Boeing has been more than a decade in the making.

Sir Tim Clark, chairman of Emirates, said the aerospace giant's problems can be traced back to 10–15 years ago. as long as he argues that they have begun to focus on profits rather than engineering excellence.

The drive to extract cost savings from suppliers and outsource work Boeing had previously done in-house came back to haunt the company when a faulty door panel blew out of a 737 Max jet in January, he said.

Speaking at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) conference in Dubai on Sunday, Sir Tim said Boeing had «no compelling reason to ruthlessly pursue cost cuts», which he said had led to chaos in its supply chain, especially now. when it was at the time starting to build the new 787 Dreamliner.

He said: “Boeing's management model has become more focused on the requirements of Plc and all the financial indicators that we are now faced with. At the time, they probably thought they could do great things, cut costs and improve efficiency.

“But if you spend 10 or 15 years trying to break out of your supply chain, chances are something will start to happen in terms of quality issues. In our business it is impossible to take your eyes off. Of course, manufacturers cannot do this. Finance is not difficult. Engineering.”

A January incident involving an Alaska Airlines plane flying at 16,000 feet has prompted a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigation. Since then, he has limited the pace of 737 assembly, appointed officials to production lines at Boeing and its suppliers, and ordered the manufacturer to overhaul its quality control procedures.

In January, Boeing plunged into crisis after a refrigerator-sized hole appeared in the plane during a flight. Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/Getty Images

Boeing Chief Financial Officer Brian West acknowledged last month that his customers were «frustrated and frustrated» by production problems.

Sir Tim said that around 2011 he raised concerns about Boeing's work being «farmed out». worldwide» and a desire to cut supplier costs by 15%.

He added: «I said be careful with this. You have a dynastic workforce and they will get the job done. And then we saw pressure on the supply chain. Suppliers came to us and said we couldn't do it. And so it went on.”

He warned that the global airline industry now faces a five-year disruption while Boeing addresses its shortcomings.

Supply chain problems are also having serious consequences. Airbus assembly lines in France and Germany were affected as a result, Sir Tim said. Some suppliers are also focusing their efforts on military contracts, demand for which is being stimulated by the war in Ukraine, further straining civilian aircraft production schedules.

He said: “The message for Boeing is absolutely crystal clear. Whether it's the FAA, the National Transportation Safety Board or the American government, they need to look at their manufacturing capabilities and quality issues.

«They need to step back and ask, 'What have we got?' have been wrong over the last 10 or 15 years and ask how are we going to solve this problem?” If they do that, the whole process can be salvaged, fixed, and we can get things back to where they belong.»

Sir Tim said Boeing should have taken responsibility after two fatal crashes involving the 737 Max jet, which occurred after software installed by the company prevented pilots from flying the plane. The Max was blocked for almost two years while Boeing fixed the problem.

He said: “After the Max they said it would never happen again, and then the door blew up. In this business, safety needs to be instilled given what we do. For me this was an axiom. It never occurred to me that they would do anything else.”

Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a case accusing Boeing of violating its obligations under the 2021 agreement, which shielded Boeing from prosecution for plane crashes. following the Alaska Airlines incident.

A Boeing spokesman said it would engage with authorities, adding: “We believe we are in compliance with the terms of this agreement and look forward to responding to the Department on this issue.”

p>