Emirates Airline President Tim Clark has urged Rolls-Royce to focus on the performance of its engines, following the British firm's announcement of plans to quadruple profits. The strategy includes a sharp increase in profit margins and "value-driven pricing," suggesting higher servicing bills.
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However, Clark criticized Rolls over pricing and the performance of its largest engine at the Dubai Airshow. He suggested that if an engine is not performing as it should, costs will rise, but the ability to extract value from the client will fall simply because the client won't accept non-performance.
Clark argued that a good product should be designed to meet the client's needs and provide high levels of reliability. Clark ruled out an immediate deal to buy Airbus A350-1000 jets, citing a dispute with Rolls over poorer-than-expected durability of its engines and pressure for higher servicing prices. He suggested that Rolls should focus on designing engines that meet the client's needs and provide high levels of reliability.
The dispute between Emirates and Rolls has brought to light a tug of war between fuel efficiency and "time on wing" or durability of engines, which often have to be traded off against each other on the drawing board. Engine makers want to be rewarded more for their investments in cutting-edge technology, given the value of fuel savings and lower emissions they offer airlines on every mile of flight. Clark brushed aside the idea of renegotiating existing engine contracts to raise hourly pricing and promised to build the airplanes that the airline wanted.