Chinese airlines are negotiating with Boeing CO to further delay taking delivery of 787 Dream liner orders, a senior Boeing executive said on Monday, as they continue cost-cutting initiatives amid weak international air travel demand.
A sharp global economic downturn had pushed China’s top three airlines – Air China and China Eastern Airlines – in – to a combined loss of more than $4 billion in 2008, forcing them to slash their capital expenditures.
Meanwhile, Boeing, the no.2 plane maker behind EADS unit Airbus, has also been struggling with a range of supply, manufacturing and design problems, made worse by a two-month strike at its Seattle-area plants last year.
“All of them have already delayed .It a mutual decision, it’s not one-sided,” Mr. David Wang, president of Boeing’s China operations, told Reuters on the sidelines of a business event.
“Based on our delay, we could have aircraft for them by the end of next year, but it’s too early for them. Actually they are supposed to get some of the early positions, but they would rather have some of the later positions now.”
Chinese carriers, including China Southern Airlines, have ordered nearly 60 Boeing 787 jets, Mr. Wang said.
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