(Bloomberg) — Boeing Co.’s new 777X jet is likely to miss its planned debut next year, according to the aircraft’s top customer Emirates, which doesn’t expect to receive any planes before 2022.Deliveries of the wide-body jet, which first flew in January, will probably be held up by Boeing’s shutdown at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, together with a lengthy certification process, Adel Al Redha, the Gulf carrier’s chief operating officer, said Thursday in an interview.Emirates is also considering whether to seek a swap of some of the 115 777Xs it has on order — representing more than a third of the total backlog — for the smaller 787 Dreamliner, which might be better matched to demand, he said. Accelerating deliveries from an earlier Dreamliner order is a “possibility,” he said.“We will be discussing with Boeing in that regard, if we look what we can do with the 787,” Al Redha said. “We are in a fluid discussion and in the peak of re-examining all these kind of things. It does require re-examination, it does require re-thinking, it does require renegotiation.”Boeing is looking at delaying the upgraded 777’s introduction as other buyers also resist taking delivery of such a large plane when they’re being compelled to shrink operations, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named discussing confidential matters. The company’s first new-jet introduction since the grounding of its 737 Max after two fatal crashes also faces increased scrutiny from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and other regulators.“I don’t see that they will be able to deliver the aircraft in 2021,” Al Redha said. “We will engage with Boeing to get more visibility. I think 2022 is a safe assumption to make.”Making ProgressBoeing said it’s working closely with its customers to adapt to the evolving Covid-19 situation. The Chicago-based company also said that it would soon add a third aircraft to its flight-testing program.“We continue to execute our robust test program for the 777-9, which began flight testing in January,” Boeing said in a statement, referring to the longest version of the 777X. “We remain pleased with the progress we are making and with the airplane.”Boeing fell 2.9% to $174.91 at 1:19 p.m. in New York amid broad U.S. stock declines. The shares fell 45% this year through Wednesday, the biggest drop on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.The FAA said that it can’t comment on its efforts to review the manufacturer’s work to upgrade the 777.While the agency is taking steps to make risk assessments more rigorous in the wake of the Max grounding, the certification process for the 777X began before the crashes and shouldn’t be affected by the reforms. All the same, the spotlight on the process could trigger other actions that slow down approval.The timing of the 777X commercial debut has been at the heart of complex negotiations with Emirates, which has already converted some of its original order for the smaller and more versatile Dreamliner. The first delivery for the 777X was originally set for this year, though the date was pushed back to 2021 following issues including delays to the plane’s General Electric Co. turbines.While Emirates’ 2013 order was instrumental in Boeing’s decision to go forward with the 777X, it isn’t clear if the airline or another of the launch group of customers would take the initial delivery.Cash SourceBy potentially accelerating its 787 deliveries, Emirates would help support a critical cash source for Boeing amid an uncertain market for wide-body aircraft. The planemaker has outlined plans to halve Dreamliner production as the Covid-19 pandemic spreads, citing fading demand for near-term deliveries.Chicago-based Boeing will be eager to begin handovers of the 777X after the Max crisis deprived it of revenue from its best-selling program. But the twin-aisle model, which boasts bigger wings and new engines, is arriving at a time when the high-volume long-haul market it’s designed to serve may be depressed for years.The 777-9 variant is longer than the 747 jumbo Boeing is winding down, and is the first twin-engine jet able to carry a similar number of people. It’s also the company’s priciest model, selling for $442.2 million before customary discounts.Sales, though, have stalled since an initial order flurry when the aircraft was unveiled at the 2013 Dubai Airshow, and anticipated orders from China haven’t materialized amid trade tensions.For the U.S. planemaker, there’s a risk that additional order conversions and deferrals will leave it manufacturing the jet in such low quantities that 777X profitability would be hurt. Qatar Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. and Deutsche Lufthansa AG are among customers that are restructuring their fleet plans.Long-Haul SlumpEmirates, the world’s largest long-haul airline, has been hard hit by the unprecedented slump in travel caused by the coronavirus. It’s already had to rethink plans for the double-decker A380, a mainstay of its fleet, after a dearth of demand elsewhere led Airbus SE to decline to upgrade the jet and then to terminate the program early.The Gulf carrier, also the biggest customer for the Airbus super-jumbo, plans to take the delivery of three A380s during the fiscal year ending in March, Al Redha said. While the delivery schedule for the last five planes remains unchanged, “if the need comes to re-visit, obviously we will do that.”Read more:Boeing Quietly Pulls Plug on the 747, Closing Era of Jumbo JetsEmirates Weighs Biggest Cut Yet as Airline Industry ShrinksEmirates and FlyDubai Evolve From Odd Couple to Best BuddiesHe said he expects 60% to 70% of the current A380 fleet to be back in the air by December. Load factor now exceeds 55% and demand for both economy and premium travelers has strengthened, he said. The airline plans to keep all 115 of the double-decker jets.The Dubai-based carrier will roll out premium economy seats on its newest A380 aircraft slated to be delivered in November, Al Redha said. Some of the existing fleet will be retrofitted from economy to premium economy.Two BrandsEmirates Group is also looking for ways to streamline operations and increase efficiencies, Al Redha said. One of the possibilities that is being considered is combining the back office operations of Emirates with discounter Flydubai, while maintaining two separate companies and identities. Both carriers are owned by Dubai’s government.“There is definitely a scope having to look at how we can reduce the expenses and become more efficient in certain areas, even if requires combining some back office activities,” Al Redha said. Emirates is re-examining all companies within the group, including ground-handling and catering arm Dnata.Emirates and Flydubai have deepened their ties since 2017, embracing route rationalization to minimize duplication.(Updates with COO quote in fourth paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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(Bloomberg) — The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to decide whether investors can challenge the 2012 agreements that let the federal government collect hundreds of billions of dollars of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s profits.The justices said they will hear an appeal by President Donald Trump’s administration of a ruling that would force the government to defend against a shareholder lawsuit. The investors say the agreements exceed the authority of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates the two mortgage giants.Fannie jumped 5.7% to $2.22 in New York trading as of 3:11 pm, while Freddie rose 6% to $2.22.A ruling in the investors’ favor would give them a chance to collect a massive settlement. Fannie and Freddie have paid more than $300 billion in dividends to the Treasury under the so-called net-worth sweep.The administration told the court the dispute “is of immense practical importance.” The justices will hear the case in the nine-month term that starts in October.The Supreme Court on Thursday also agreed to hear an appeal from shareholders challenging the profit sweep under a different legal theory.Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac keep the U.S. housing market humming by buying mortgages from lenders and packaging them into bonds that are sold to investors with guarantees of interest and principal.‘Cloud of Uncertainty’After the housing market cratered in 2008, the companies were put into federal conservatorship and sustained by taxpayer aid. They have since returned to profitability and paid $115 billion more in dividends to the Treasury than they received in bailout funds. Since 2013, most of their profits have been sent to the Treasury under the net-worth sweep.The administration contends the 2008 law that set up the FHFA precludes lawsuits that challenge the profit sweep. The law bars courts from doing anything to “restrain or affect the exercise of powers or functions of the agency as a conservator.”A splintered New Orleans-based federal appeals court let the lawsuit go forward, saying the FHFA wasn’t acting as a conservator when it agreed to the net-worth sweep.The suing shareholders said the appeals court reached the right conclusion. But they nonetheless urged the Supreme Court to hear the Trump administration appeal, saying all sides would benefit from clarity.“So long as there is a credible threat that litigation will invalidate the net-worth sweep, a cloud of uncertainty will hang over the companies’ capital structure,” the shareholders told the Supreme Court. “Investors will not be willing to supply the tens of billions of dollars in new capital that are essential to Treasury’s reform plan.”Shareholders in the New Orleans court said that the FHFA, which has a single director who can’t be fired without cause, has an unconstitutional structure, making its decision to enter the profit sweep invalid. While the divided New Orleans court agreed with shareholders that the FHFA’s structure is unconstitutional, it said that fact alone could not invalidate the sweep, leading to the shareholder appeal.Trump administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, have long stated that they want to end federal control by releasing Fannie and Freddie from conservatorship. Wall Street analysts have said they are skeptical of that happening before the November election, meaning the administration’s goal largely depends on Trump winning a second term.The government’s appeal is Mnuchin v. Collins, 19-563., and the shareholders’ appeal is Collins v. Mnuchin, 19-422.(Updates shares, second case granted starting in 3rd paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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