The borrowed Headline from Australian Business Review says it
better than what could be said in Winging It. However, on June 4th I pondered
what Qantas will do for its 50 optioned 787 before it expires. Winging It has
referenced back to its "Article" about
those 50 787 Qantas options just days before the "AB-Review" (alert:
Australian Business Review Link needs a access subscription after first
free viewing is used).
Joyce has reaffirmed in a manner of speaking that Qantas is going after those
same 50 options, hinting, they will take them on without waiting for financial
ratings catching up with its purchase intent for the 50 787 ladies in waiting.
They have already structured a plan for this case. The important clue is the 50
on option are 50 separate options where a purchase commitment can be crafted
with Boeing holding to its original option price it had secured at the
beginning of the 787 program.
"But Mr Joyce said the suggestion the
airline might have to choose between regaining its investment credit rating and
the 787s was flawed."
"Mr Joyce said the company would qualify
for an investment grade rating if it got the debt down and improved performance
to where it needed to be.
Paying down debt by $1 billion to get the
company back into the position where it would re-qualify for its
investment grade credit rating is among three criteria Mr Joyce on several
occasions has said need to be met before the airline would exercise its 50
purchase rights and options on the 787-9s."
"If
they had a strong financial rating at this time, they could do fleet renewal
with the 50 787-9's it needs. However putting money down from banked gains
destroys the Qantas financial portfolio and rating. They may have to wait and
lose the option window with Boeing."
"What can Qantas do? Parse out the order out in segments of 10 units a
time over the next 10 years, keeping the low price for the first ten and then
ordering from options on the next ten at a higher price."
This supposition wasn't far from what Alan Joyce is moving towards concerning
the 50 individuals he has available through individual options.
Joyce Indirectly answers
Winging It thinking with this nugget:
As found in the AB Review:
"The first opportunity to order a
787-9 for delivery in 2017 comes up this year but Qantas has a flexible order
stream with fixed pricing and delivery slots. This allows it to individually
address each of the 50 options and purchase rights and decide whether or not to
exercise them."
Key to
the options closure comes flexibility with Boeing. Joyce can parse out the 50
787 options in some kind logical and financial way circumventing its financial
wall of ratings over a period of time, during Qantas optimal operations and
debt reductions process. He can squeeze a few 787 through each year until the
Qantas financial picture stabilizes long enough for gaining a premium
rating.
The
problem is told in the old story line. What comes first? The chicken or the
egg? Joyce needs the 787-9 to make it work well. He can't get the 787-9 in
numbers until Qantas works well. Qantas is exploring getting a few 787-9
through the back door, by making its one by one options into a stream of
separate orders until the financial rating for Qantas rises. Then it will
option out with the remaining 787-9's into one big order, covering years of
fleet renewal. The egg will hatch because of the game of financial chicken
favors Qantas.”