Lyrical start for 787

And integrity was the catch phrase when Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce and Boeing Commercial Airplane Company president Ray Connor came together at the acceptance of the Qantas Group’s first 787.

It is not often these days that you hear such lyrical praise of a supplier, particularly a supplier that has caused so much disruption to a fleet plan and bottom line.

The compensation that Boeing has paid will not cover the cost to Qantas of the 787 delays.

So when Joyce said “there is not a department at Qantas that does not speak highly of Boeing,” it speaks volumes of the closeness of the relationship. And Joyce added that the airline had been “overwhelmed by the way Boeing has handled this difficult situation. ” But he didn’t end there and said that the Boeing-Qantas relationship “is the best I have ever seen. ” Joyce then singled out Boeing senior sales executives Dinesh Keskar, Rick Westmoreland, Stan Deal and Dara Schmidt for praise. “You guys have generated so much goodwill at Qantas and it’s a credit to your personality, credit to your business acumen and credit to you as a company. ” Clearly Boeing has been moved by the relationship with Qantas.

Connor said that “people may change but they do not leave the industry.

What you do and how you do it mean more than you can ever imagine.

The way we have worked together as two companies is a model of how a partnership should work. ” Contrails followed up with Joyce on the 787 delivery flight to query such high praise and he was more forthcoming saying that the relationship between the two companies was “unbelievable”.

Joyce reiterated the statement: “It is best relationship I have ever seen. ” Joyce then added words such as “transparency, honesty and integrity” when referring to Boeing and its handling of the 787 production problems.

But it would be folly for Boeing to think it has done enough as Airbus is a tough competitor that has shown that it learns quickly and bounces back.

Boeing ought to be ready to bring forward Qantas’s options for the 787-9

because Contrails believes that this aircraft would be the perfect vehicle for a double daily Sydney-Dallas service. Boeing ought to be ready to bring forward Qantas’s options for the 787-9. While Joyce has said repeatedly the options will not be delivered till 2016, that was before he travelled on the delivery flight and experienced all the passenger features such as the lower pressurisation, higher humidity, very quiet cabin and gust suppression system.

Joyce was clearly impressed – deeply impressed – and perhaps the significant passenger appeal of the 787 will spark a major rethink of the fleet plan.

There is no doubt the 787 is a quantum leap over existing aircraft and a game changer and us such a magnet for business travellers – particularly on long flights.

The problem for Qantas is that Air New Zealand may well operate 787-9s to the US and likely that United will also introduce them.

One option is leasing 787s or a possible codeshare with American Airlines, which gets its first 787 in November 2014.

Qantas may need Boeing to dig deeper into the relationship chest sooner than later.

It will be fascinating to watch.