Boeing vows to deliver on promises in 2014

Dubai: Boeing will deliver on its promises this year, its leading executive in the Middle East has said, as the United States airplane manufacturer looks to put the 787 Dreamliner woes to bed.

Jeff Johnson, president of Boeing Middle East, told Gulf News in an interview that the 787s were getting to the level and reliability of its best selling wide body aircraft the 777, which is at 99.7 per cent.

“We did well working through some of the 787 issues. The plane is really performing now to the level that customers expect of Boeing products. After this year [the 787 issues] will all be behind us,” he said.

Boeing grappled with technical issues of its wide-body 787 Dreamliner aircraft last year when its fleet was grounded over safety concerns with the airplanes lithium battery. No one was more vocal on the grounding than Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways chief executive officer, who criticised both Boeing and regulatory authorities who grounded the fleet.

However, Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner continued to make headlines for all the wrong reasons just weeks into 2014. A 787 Dreamliner, operated by Norwegian Air, was reportedly grounded last week in Thailand when fuel began leaking from the aircraft just moments before takeoff.

The Middle East represents a huge market for Boeing, where record orders were placed by the region’s leading airlines Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways at the Dubai Airshow last November, representing billions of dollars in sales.

Al Baker’s criticisms of the 787 grounding have surely brought unwanted attention to Boeing.

Boeing, however, is going to focus on working with its customers in the region to further grow its market share.

Johnson said the US airplane manufacturer currently holds 50-55 per cent of the wide body market share in the region but its single aisle fell just below 50 per cent. Boeing namely competes with French airplane manufacturer Airbus in the region as well as globally.

“This year is really execution. We’re going to execute on our promises. We had some really exciting partnerships announcements around the Dubai Airshow,” he said.

Boeing signed multi-billion dollar deals at the Airshow with Mubadala and Tawazun to develop Abu Dhabi’s aviation parts manufacturing industry.

The agreements will see Boeing continue to develop Mubadala through to 2030 and beyond as a Tier-One supplier. It also wants to see Tawazun become a Tier-One vertical fin supplier within the next five years. Vertical fins provide aircraft with directional stability.

Boeing has significant backlog of 412 orders in the region and with hopes the Dreamliner troubles are behind it, Johnson said he does not expect any cancellations in 2014.

In Iraq, Boeing delivered two 737s last year to Iraq Airways. Additional deliveries are expected later this year.

Iraq, with a population of 50 million, represents a significant potential market for Boeing. The country, which is recovering from a decade of war, could modernise and develop its aviation industry in the coming years. Likewise, Iran, with a population of 75 million, is another huge potential market given the likelihood that international sanctions could open the country up to American companies.

But Johnson said that Boeing is “clearly folding behind the US government and we’ll take their lead” on Iran.

Regionally, Boeing is set to deliver 787 Dreamliners to Kenya Airlines, Royal Jordanian and Etihad Airways this year.