Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways is yet to decide on future plans for around 50 Airbus A320neo and Boeing 777X jets it previously ordered, its CE said Wednesday, raising uncertainty over billions of dollars of aircraft sales. The state-owned carrier is restructuring under new management led by Tony Douglas after a failed bid last decade to compete with major Gulf carriers Emirates and Qatar Airways. Asked about Airbus A320neo and Boeing 777X ordered by previous management, Douglas said the airline was focused on sustainable growth and that a final decision had not been made. Uncertainty over deliveries and when the industry would recover from the pandemic had added to the complexity of making a decision on future fleet plans. "The manufactures can't confirm when they are going to be delivered and you have a market that you don't know when its going to recover." The airline had three years to decide on what it would do with the A320neo order, while a decision on the 777X jets was "way down the road". Etihad, which is in the midst of a five year downsizing to become what it calls a "mid-sized carrier", has 26 A320neo jets and 25 777X on order, according to the planemakers. It would continue to take deliveries of Airbus A350-1000 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner liner jets, which Douglas said would become the backbone of the fleet that will trim to 65 aircraft.<br/>
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Carbon offsets, used by airlines to show they’re neutralizing greenhouse gas emissions, avoid the real challenge of cutting back on CO2, according to the chief executive officer of Gulf carrier Etihad Airways. The state-owned company offset 70,000 tons of carbon emissions for one Boeing Co. 787 this year by buying into a forestry program in Tanzania, CEO Tony Douglas said Wednesday. “That said, I think offsetting is cheating,” Douglas said. “It’s a short-term stopgap if you haven’t got a more sustainable alternative, but it’s cheating.” The comments follow a breakthrough agreement reached this past week to create a global carbon market governing emissions trading. While the impact on aviation is still unclear, the Article 6 accord reached at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, will unify standards in carbon-offset trading, potentially broadening their use. Douglas added his voice to a handful of airline executives who, along with environmentalists, have challenged the effectiveness of interim measures like tree-planting. Etihad still intends to plant mangroves in Abu Dhabi, “so it gets closer to home,” Douglas said. “That’s still cheating.”<br/>