DOHA (Reuters) – Boeing Chief Executive Dave Calhoun on Tuesday said it could take until the end of next year to cure sector-wide supply chain problems that have disrupted jetliner production.
“Priority one for the two airplane manufacturers is stability,” Calhoun told the Qatar Economic Forum, referring to Boeing and European rival Airbus.
“We have to resolve the supply chain issues and the surprise associated with it; and we have to resolve it sort of once and for all,” Calhoun told the Bloomberg-organised event.
“That is not a short-term job. It sounds like it might be, but I think it could take all of this year and probably all of next year.”
In April Calhoun had reported progress in tackling the supply chain and repeated November guidance that “significant supply chain improvement” was unlikely “until well into 2024”.
On Tuesday Calhoun said he did not think recent problems with production of the best-selling 737 narrow-body jet would delay manufacturing for more than a month or one and a half months.
Calhoun also said the industry was unlikely to introduce all-new jet designs before the mid-2030s, citing the pace of emerging propulsion and wing technology.
Qatar Airways Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker, however, told the same event he would advise Boeing, Airbus and Brazil’s Embraer to “start looking now” at sustainable new platforms.
(Reporting by Andrew Mills and Tim Hepher; Additional reporting by Valerie Insinna; Editing by David Goodman)
