Royal Jordanian (RJ, Amman Queen Alia) President and Chief Executive Officer, Stefan Pichler, says the carrier is planning to cancel the delivery of its eighth B787-8 due from Boeing (BOE, Washington National).
The German told Arabian Aerospace that the decision had been taken as studies had shown “we can’t fly it profitably”. A maiden A330-200F was similarly rejected ahead of its planned EIS in mid-2017.
Royal Jordanian is undergoing restructuring in an effort to improve its viability prospects amid heavy competition from the Gulf carriers as well as budget airlines.
In August last year, Pichler said that as part of its cost-reduction efforts, his airline would undergo fleet simplification given the wide variety of aircraft that it operates - one A310-300(F), four A319-100s, seven A320-200s, two A321-200s, seven B787-8s, three E175s, and two E195s. Despite the reduction in types, Pichler aims to operate a fleet of 30 aircraft by the end of the turnaround plan (early 2022).
“The growth will be narrowbody,” he said. “We will develop a fleet plan in the next four to five months. My objective is to go to a single [type] narrow-body fleet. It can be Airbus, it can be Bombardier Aerospace, it can be Embraer, it can be Boeing. Anything.”
