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Sir Tim Clark is concerned about Boeing.
In an exclusive interview with The Air Current On Tuesday morning, the former president of Emirates airline offered a surgical dissection of the U.S. aircraft maker and its acute struggles with the 737 Max, 777X and 787, which he believes to be existential, systemic and solvable.
“The responsibility for this company’s culture, strategy, direction, priority lies with Boeing’s management and no one else. And this is where the ball must stop. And this is where they need to be classified, ”he said. “So, going forward, the relationships that airlines have with companies like Boeing will be conditioned by what they see they are doing to solve their internal problems.
The public rebuke is the most severe that Boeing has received from any customer after its series of crises. Clark has been instrumental in leading Boeing and Airbus’ largest jet aircraft programs for decades and is one of the most influential figures in the industry. He believes Boeing has a long way to go to rebuild the confidence of regulators, customers and the traveling public.
“I’m sorry to have to say all of this, but I think it needs to be said, otherwise, let’s just get out of the Max era, as if nothing had happened.” said Clark. Boeing’s leadership “can go any way it wants. If they don’t like what they hear, well, that’s difficult. Someone like me is saying, you need to resolve yourself. “
The nearly 90-minute interview covered a wide range of topics, including the future of the airline, which until recently held the title of the world’s largest international carrier, the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as its fleet strategy and the future of its Airbus A380s superjumbo fleet. These topics will be explored in later articles.
Clark, 71, postponed his retirement last year because “this bloody pandemic”, in his words, devastated Emirates and the global airline industry. The conclusion of this stage of his career coincides with a cataclysm that left the industry reeling and coincided with the worst operational and security crises in Boeing’s history.
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