Boeing Regret Lands as Alan Joyce Backs 777 Over Qantas Order

Alan Joyce said boeing should have won Qantas's 2000 long-haul order, not Airbus and the 747-400ER. In 2014, the former chief executive said he wished he had a “time machine” to go back and buy the 777 instead, a rare public reset on a fleet call that shaped the carrier for years.

13 Airbus A330s, 12 Airbus A380-800s and six Boeing 747-400ERs made up that order, with the A330s split between seven A330-200s and six A330-300s. For Qantas, the choice locked in a long-haul mix that bypassed the 777 family entirely, even after Boeing had consulted the airline during development.

Qantas and the 777 decision

8 major airlines were consulted on the Boeing 777 program, including Qantas, All Nippon Airways, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Delta Air Lines, Japan Airlines and United Airlines. Qantas still never ordered the aircraft, and later passed on the 777X as well. That left Joyce criticizing a decision made under James Strong in 2000, when the airline was still running a fleet centered on the Boeing 737, 747 and 767.

In the 1990s, Qantas said it did not need the Boeing 777 and focused its long-haul network on 747 flying to London, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Singapore. The airline was also enthusiastic about the A3XX concept, while the 777-300ER launched in 2000 and the second-generation 777 line expanded with the 777-200LR and 777-300ER.

Airbus orders and 747-400ER

2000 brought a different calculation: Qantas ordered Airbus A330s, Airbus A380-800s and six Boeing 747-400ERs just as Ansett Australia was failing. That failure opened space for Qantas to expand domestic operations beyond its 737s and 767s, while the 747-400ER order also gave the 747 program new life.

2014 is the line that matters now. Joyce's complaint was not about aircraft theory in the abstract; it was a retrospective judgment that the 2000 mix left Qantas without the 777 family it might have preferred once its network and fleet needs changed. For readers tracking the carrier's history, the practical takeaway is simple: Qantas made its long-haul bet in 2000, and Joyce later said he would reverse it if he could.