Emirates’s Tim Clark throws support behind embattled Boeing leadership

Emirates President Tim Clark threw his support behind Boeing Co.’s leadership as the manufacturer works through a crisis of confidence in the wake of a near-catastrophic accident in January, saying the company understands what needs to be fixed and that the reintegration of a key supplier is a first step in the right direction.

“I think Calhoun and his colleagues are on it,” Clark told journalists in Berlin, referring to Boeing Chief Executive Officer Dave Calhoun. “This is so urgent. If we had any issue like this we’d take the company apart, we wouldn’t sleep. You’re expected to do the right thing.”

Clark has said Boeing has one final chance to right the company following the January 5 blowout of a door panel on a 737 Max 9 model during flight. To fix the business, Boeing needs to review its governance model and consider enlisting support from what Clark called third parties with expertise in engineering to help Boeing fix its manufacturing issues.

“It doesn’t matter about ramping cash, just get the quality done correctly, it’s what the US government expects, it’s what the flying public expects,” Clark said.

Emirates is among Boeing’s most important customers, having recently added to its fleet of 777 widebody aircraft. Clark said Calhoun and the head of the civil aircraft business, Stan Deal, should be given a chance to make the required fixes, and that “they understand it, they have to get the people to do it.”

Boeing’s talks to bring back Spirit AeroSystems Inc., the supplier of large parts of its airframes, are a “step in the right direction,” Clark said. Spirit said last week that it’s exploring strategic options, and Boeing confirmed that the two sides are in discussions about bringing the former subsidiary back under its roof.