Rolls-Royce still in running to power Emirates 787 Dreamliners

Rolls-Royce is still in the running to power Emirates’ 787 Dreamliners announced at Dubai Airshow, despite its Trent 1000 engine problems.

The 787s can be powered by GE Aviation’s GEnx engines or by Rolls-Royce’s Trent 1000, and the Emirates order did not specify which.

The planes ordered will be delivered in 2023, giving Rolls-Royce time to resolve its durability problems.

“Rolls have had a number of wake up calls and they really need to sort themselves out. I think the alarm clock has gone off a number of times,” Emirates president Tim Clark said at the show. “If I were on the board, I would be looking to recognize the issues… and deal with them immediately, meaningfully, forcefully and drive change.”

“We are confident in the reliability and performance of our engines, and in our commitment to meeting the high standards expected by our customers,” a Rolls-Royce spokesperson said.

They added: “(Emirates) is one of the largest operators of our Trent engines in the world, and we are committed to maintaining our strong relationship with them.”

The Emirates president said that the situation at Rolls was “salvageable” if its board acted quickly: “With the reputation that (Rolls) has for quality engineering and its excellence in the past, they must restore that as the gold standard.”