An experimental Boeing 777X aircraft on the Dubai Air Show in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Monday, Nov. 17, 2025.
Christopher Pike | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Emirates is piling the pressure on Boeing to deliver on a $38 billion order placed this week, the airline’s president told CNBC on Tuesday.
Chatting with CNBC on the Dubai Airshow, Emirates President Tim Clark said he had faith Boeing could “restore [its] former glory” — but nonetheless, the airline is doing what it could possibly to make sure the beleaguered aircraft manufacturer holds up its end of the agreement.
Emirates announced Monday it has placed an order for 65 Boeing 777-9 planes, price $38 billion at list prices — taking Emirates’ total orderbook with the planemaker to 315 widebody jets. Clark told CNBC the airline hoped to receive the primary of the brand new Boeing aircraft within the second quarter of 2027.
Emirates is Boeing’s biggest customer in terms of wide-body aircraft, however the airline has been combating prolonged delays to Boeing’s 777X program amid certification and production challenges. Boeing has also struggled to deliver other aircraft, including its 737 jets, after a strike on the firm late last yr hit production.
“We’re type of holding Boeing’s feet to the hearth,” Clark said, noting that while the aircraft is “sound,” Boeing is having to contend with huge certification requirements that include a brand new aircraft and slower processes on the Federal Aviation Administration which has been impacted by the U.S. government shutdown.
Restoring Boeing’s ‘former glory’
Other airlines have also been impacted by postponements to Boeing deliveries. Earlier this yr, budget airline Ryanair cut its passenger traffic goal, citing Boeing delays.
Despite Boeing’s ongoing challenges, nevertheless, Clark told CNBC he expects Boeing can, and can, turn itself around.
“I do know the Boeing of old, and I do know what Boeing could do, they usually were really, really an incredible company,” he said. “I see no reason why what has happened within the last decade can’t be fixed, and that Boeing cannot restore itself to its former glory of being an aeronautical engineering designer of excellence.”
Boeing has also come under intense scrutiny lately following a series of fatal crashes involving its aircraft. Earlier this yr, a Boeing Dreamliner operated by Air India crashed moments after taking off from Ahmedabad, India. In late 2018, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 — a Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft — crashed in a rural area southeast of Addis Ababa, killing everyone on board. It got here just months after one other 737 Max 8 aircraft went down just after takeoff from Jakarta, Indonesia.
In relation to safety concerns, Clark insisted that Boeing has worked hard to shore up the safety functions on its planes.
Boeing is now focused on operational safety, quality control and reviewing systems and protocols across the board, Clark said. “In the event that they get all of that right, it should take time, but with the brand new management, they’ve a powerful likelihood of restoring the corporate to its former glory,” he added.
“We have got 270 now of the 777, the most important 777 order probably in history, once you take all of it together — I do not think we might be doing that if we weren’t confident they were going to find a way to deliver,” Clark said.
“So we’re right behind them. We have been moaning, as you’ll expect — it has not been easy or low cost for us to remediate the dearth of capability, but ultimately, you could have to place your faith in what I consider to be a powerful and sound company that well managed, they’ll get themselves out of this and rolling out airplanes at pace in the following five [to] seven years.”
— CNBC’s Emma Graham and Leslie Josephs contributed to this text.
