Cargolux 747-8Fs restart the engines
03 / 09 / 2012
CARGOLUX rejected delivery of its first two 747-8Fs due to an issue involving engine manufacturer GE and not Boeing itself, Akbar Al Baker, director of Cargolux and chief executive of Qatar Airways, said.
The problem has since been resolved and the carrier will take delivery of its first -8 “around 12 October,” a Cargolux board member confirmed.
Al Baker said Cargolux previously had not negotiated adequate compensation for a 2.7 per cent shortfall in the promised fuel efficiency of the GE engines.
“The engine is under-performing,” Al Baker said. “The issue was very strongly raised and was negotiated by the board of Cargolux. They had to comply. Unfortunately, the management of Cargolux did not take the action they should have taken. As we sit on the board, we have a full right to object if we find something that isn’t fair. That’s all we did.”
All GE engines on the -8Fs built before 2013 will face a fuel efficiency defect. GE spokesperson Deb Case said the engine-maker is designing a performance-improvement package to be ready for engines installed from late 2013 onward.
Those issues had been known for many months, but the question of compensation was re-opened again after Al Baker joined the board.