Irked Emirates boss tells Airbus, Boeing to raise their game

Emirates President Tim Clark delivered a broadside against Airbus and Boeing as well as their biggest engine suppliers, saying he’s no longer prepared to take delivery of aircraft that don’t meet specifications. The veteran airline executive, who oversees the world’s largest international carrier, said he’s run out of patience with glitches that have held up new models or forced costly groundings for emergency repairs. He likened the nuisance to purchasing a new luxury car, only to have the dealer warn that the engine will need changing after three months. “That’s not going to happen any more,” Clark said Wednesday. “When they’re ready to give us what they’re contracted to do then we will have an assessment of the number and type of aircraft that are going to be used.” Delivered from one of the most respected executives in the aviation world, it’s a stern message that threatens to have repercussions across the industry. At stake are orders for more than 250 wide-body jets, which Clark said Emirates won’t take without a cast-iron guarantee of trouble-free performance. Both Airbus and Boeing have suffered performance setbacks with their aircraft, and Clark said he can’t be sure about the reliability of the Rolls-Royce Holdings engines that power the planes, or that the UK company has resolved issues with a turbine it supplies for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, of which Emirates has 40 on order. Clark’s warning comes against the background of a fleet review triggered by a deteriorating global economy and the looming demise of Airbus’s A380 superjumbo, around which Emirates had previously built its business.<br/>