A major Middle Eastern airline is planning a $1 billion plane revamp as the industry grapples with Boeing delays

• Etihad Airways plans to spend $1 billion refitting its planes, its CEO told media outlets.
• The Abu Dhabi-based airline will introduce new cabins, faster internet, and better entertainment.
• The airline industry is currently grappling with supply chain issues and delayed jet deliveries.

Etihad Airways plans to spend up to $1 billion on new cabins, its CEO said, as reported Thursday by two media outlets.

The Abu Dhabi-based airline is set to start by upgrading its Boeing 787 and 777 models, CEO Antonoaldo Neves told Bloomberg and local outlet The National.

Etihad’s website says it has 43 and nine such jets, respectively.

Bloomberg reported that the refits will involve overhauling the entire cabin, introducing high-speed internet, and installing a new entertainment system.

It added that supply chain delays mean the program will begin late next year.

Neves told Bloomberg that Etihad plans to upgrade all its widebody jets except for the superjumbo Airbus A380.

“We’re going to retrofit even the planes that don’t need a retrofit, but we believe it’s important for the airline” to have consistency across the fleet, he added.

In a statement to Business Insider, an airline spokesperson said, “Etihad’s cabin refresh programme has been planned for some time and is entirely independent of any aircraft orders.”

Etihad’s announcement of its plans to retrofit some of its planes comes not long after Boeing said there would be further delays to its 777X jet, a modernized version of the 777 that would become the world’s largest twin-engine jet by capacity.

It was initially set to debut in 2020 but has since been pushed back to 2026.

Etihad ordered 25 777X jets in 2013. However, Neves told AeroTelegraph in May that the contracts had since been restructured, meaning the airline doesn’t have any firm options for the jet.

“As for now, the 777X doesn’t play any role in our five-year plan,” he added.

The latest delay to the much-anticipated jet sparked criticism from customers, including Emirates, Etihad’s rival airline in the United Arab Emirates.

“Emirates has had to make significant and highly expensive amendments to our fleet programs as a result of Boeing’s multiple contractual shortfalls and we will be having a serious conversation with them over the next couple of months,” President Sir Tim Clark told Business Insider in a statement last month.