SYDNEY/TOKYO (Reuters) - Australia's Qantas Airways <QAN.AX> said on Thursday it would seek compensation from Boeing Co <BA.N> over delay of the 787 Dreamliner, a step it took with Airbus after the A380 superjumbo was late.
By Jonathan Standing and Aiko Hayashi
SYDNEY/TOKYO (Reuters) - Australia's Qantas Airways <QAN.AX> said on Thursday it would seek compensation from Boeing Co <BA.N> over delay of the 787 Dreamliner, a step it took with Airbus after the A380 superjumbo was late.
The 787 suffered its second setback when Boeing announced on Wednesday that it was pushing back the program a further three months, making the plane about nine months behind its original schedule.
Qantas said it could claim for damages in certain circumstances and would discuss the issue with Boeing in coming weeks.
!ADVERTISEMENT!Japan's All Nippon Airways Co (ANA) <9202.T>, which is set to receive the very first 787, said it would not seek compensation.
A380 DELAY
Boeing rival Airbus ran two years behind with its doubledecker A380 and Qantas Chief Executive Geoff Dixon was a vocal critic, pressing Airbus for 104 million Australian dollars ($92 million) in compensation.
"We will be discussing the issue of liquidated damages with Boeing in the coming weeks," Dixon said in a statement on Thursday.
Qantas and its low-cost subsidiary Jetstar plan to use the planes to expand on Asia-Pacific routes.
Qantas now does not expect its first Dreamliner to be delivered to Jetstar before May 2009 and said it was reviewing contingencies.
"In the meantime, we will look at a range of options including revised retirement dates for some of our aircraft, re-allocating existing capacity and potential schedule adjustments," Dixon said.
Qantas has on order 65 of the Boeing planes worth about $8 billion, with options and rights to buy 50 more.
Just as Airbus pushed the limits with the mammoth A380, Boeing's mid-sized 787 is breaking new ground, using unprecedented levels of lightweight composites and relying on a network of global firms to build major parts of it.
Boeing said on Wednesday that the 787's delay was related to issues involving some of that outsourced production.
Qantas said the 787's delay would not impact its earnings or strategy.
ANA is studying the possible impact on its business, ANA spokeswoman Kyoko Yamane said.
ANA had been scheduled to get its first 787 in late November or December, six months back from the original target of May.
There is no change in its plan to buy 50 Dreamliner aircraft, ANA's Yamane said.
Boeing announced the 787's first setback, a six-month delay, in October.
U.S. CARRIERS DISAPPOINTED
The two U.S. airlines which have ordered 787 Dreamliners expressed disappointment over potentially costly delays on the new plane, but did not mention compensation payments.
Continental Airlines <CAL.N> and Northwest Airlines <NWA.N>, which are both planning to use the fuel-efficient, long-haul plane on key routes to Asia, will now be forced to find temporary alternatives.
"Clearly, (the delay) will make for a tough summer for us in 2009," said Continental Chief Executive Larry Kellner, on a conference call on Thursday.
Continental was due to receive its first 787s in 2009 and use them on routes to China, but the delayed delivery will force Continental to pull planes off other routes, he said.
"We will have some challenges short term -- we recognize those -- and we'll work through those with Boeing for the long term," Kellner said.
Northwest, which is hoping to be the first U.S. airline to put the 787 in service, originally expected deliveries to start in August 2008, but will now likely have to wait for a further nine months.
"We are very disappointed by Boeing's announcement but we're hopeful that Boeing will address the problems with the 787 production expeditiously and be in a position to provide us with a reliable delivery schedule," a Northwest spokesman said.
(Additional reporting by Bill Rigby in New York)
(Editing by Jason Neely and Gunna Dickson)
