After A380s Etihad will also retire all 777s by 2021: long-haul only with 787s
It is still time for goodbyes. After retiring the A380s, Etihad immediately launches another piece of bad news: it will also retire its [...]
Etihad Airways
It is still time for goodbyes. After the retirement of the A380, Etihad immediately launches another piece of bad news: it will also withdraw its fleet of Boeing 777 By the end of 2021.
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Already the farewell of the "giants of the sky" had caused a stir, because with them inevitably left were also the luxurious First Class apartments, namely "The Residence" and the "First Apartments." And now Etihad has also decided to replace the 777s with more efficient and smaller planes.
The question, as we know, is. dropped dramatically, giant planes have become just a weight economic for the companies, a good portion of the carriers, in fact, preferred to change course and aim for a leaner fleet and manageable.
"You will see in us a disciplined and focused operating model, strongly built around the 787 Dreamliner and A350-1000 fleet."
Tony Douglas, Etihad CEO
Etihad's change for the long haul
This choice represents a drastic change at Etihad, the fleet is shrinking and the first-class 777 will no longer be operational. How, then, will the Emirates airline maintain the standard elevated even over the long haul?
Etihad has ordered more 20 Airbus A350-1000, which are in addition to the 5 that are currently in storage (and will soon be plying the skies) and the 39 Boeing 787s, which will ensure a sizeable fleet for long hauls as well.
We don't know if we will also see First Class on the 787s, except in a small number of aircraft; it seems that Etihad wants to target the Business Class, who has recently remodeled.
Etihad's "restructuring" and the 2023 target
Etihad CEO Tony Douglas announced that the leaks due to the pandemic in 2020 accelerated a process of restructuring company, with the goal of making the company fully profitable again by 2023.
"The first quarter of 2020 was our best quarter ever. And then, of course, the pandemic took $3.6 billion in ticket sales away from us over the next nine months. The silver lining for Etihad in all of this is that we were already in our transformation process and we were getting to the halfway point.
We accelerated what was already the momentum we intended to carry out."
Tony Douglas, Etihad CEO
The first strategy to curb losses, needless to say, is the cost reduction. The retirement of A380s and Boeing 777s in favor of smaller, more efficient aircraft is the strongest signal given by the company. So is the final cut to Alitalia, Air Berlin or Air Serbia-style partnerships.
Etihad is also the first company that has booked the new 777x, a new version of the 777, only to reduce its orders considerably from 26 to 6. Same for the new Airbus A350 XWBs: it had 62 ordered, but will only receive 5.
According to analysts, Etihad will continue to have leaks through 2022. Fundamental, then, is the cutting of operating costs by the 10% that will allow the UAE's national airline to breathe a little.
2020 has claimed many lives, and if a major airline like Etihad has some difficulty, certainly not a good sign. But some reassurance comes from the recent reopenings, that bode well for a gradual improvement in the situation.
We just have to wait until the vaccination campaign is in full swing and book a flexible ticket in order to enjoy summer. Do you know that there are countries where you can sunbathe naked without any problems? Find out which ones are!
