When Boeing 747-8F launch customer Cargolux postponed delivery of its first two airplanes in September, pundits almost immediately began tossing about theories that Qatar Airways boss and Cargolux director Akbar al Baker was behind the sudden move for various ulterior motives. After all, Boeing and Cargolux had already reached terms on an agreement in July–before Qatar Airways bought 35 percent of the Luxembourg-based freight carrier–over fuel-burn deficiencies in the early airplanes that would affect their range and payload capability. Al Baker, the theory went, was angling for more leverage in his negotiations over compensation for late delivery of Qatar’s Boeing 787s.
While only Al Baker can truly know his own motives, no doubt remains that the airplane’s General Electric GEnx-2B engines did not meet their promised fuel-burn performance, and the new Cargolux director did not find acceptable the compensation originally negotiated over the summer. It took about three weeks, but Cargolux, Boeing and GE eventually settled the issue, and Cargolux took delivery of its first two airplanes on October 12 and 13.
