Boeing will take years to recover from the latest safety crisis, its biggest customer has warned.
Tim Clark, president of luxury airline Emirates, has said the aircraft manufacturer will struggle to get back on track after the mid-air crash on an Alaska Airlines flight.
Speaking at a conference in Dubai last night, Clark said: ‘From now on this will be a five-year hiatus. I don’t think they will recapture their production line.’
Emirates is Boeing’s largest jumbo jet customer.
The comments come after Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary warned that airfares could rise this summer following ongoing unrest at Boeing.
Long term: Emirates president Tim Clark has said Boeing will struggle to get back on track
The safety record was thrust into the spotlight again in January after a piece of the plane was torn off during an Alaska Airlines flight.
Investigators said bolts were missing after repair work.
The US giant revealed it had consumed £1 billion a month in the first quarter of this year after slowing production and paying £347 million in compensation.
Shares have fallen by almost a third since the Alaska Airlines incident.