Court denies Volga-Dnepr motion for restraining order against Boeing

[caption id="attachment_411963" align="alignright" width="460"] At least two of the 777Fs are now destined to join the same yet-to-be-identified customer. (Photo: Boeing)[/caption] Russia-based Volga-Dnepr Group ’s application for a temporary restraining order to stop Boeing from selling one 747-8F (63784) and three 777Fs has been denied by the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. The case concerns a December 2018 contract between Volga-Dnepr and Boeing for five 747-8Fs and another December 2018 contract for nine 777Fs. The first 747-8F (63787) was delivered to AirBridgeCargo in February 2019, but in January 2020, Volga-Dnepr notified Boeing it would not be able to finance unit 63784, scheduled for delivery in February. The group also said it wouldn’t be able to take three 777Fs scheduled for delivery in April, May and July 2020. Boeing subsequently remarketed the four aircraft in question. The court decided no oral arguments were necessary, even though Boeing had requested them. While Volga-Dnepr conceded that it had repudiated the 747-8F contract, it claimed it had never done so with the 777F contract. The court said it was unlikely Volga-Dnepr would succeed with that claim, given a letter Volga-Dnepr sent to Boeing in January which said it was unable to fulfill its contractual obligations; another letter confirming the repudiation in February; as well as an in-person meeting with Boeing to discuss the repudiation. The court also decided it was unlikely Volga-Dnepr would succeed with its claim that it had successfully retracted its repudiation of the 747-8F and 777F contracts. Although Volga-Dnepr tried to rescind its repudiation of both contracts in April and May, the window for it to do so closed when it failed to make an advance payment for the 777Fs in February, and when it failed to pay the balance and take delivery of unit 63784 in February. Additionally, the court confirmed that Volga-Dnepr had not retracted its repudiations before Boeing materially changed its position in reliance of those repudiations. Boeing had issued proposals to other potential customers for the aircraft and had notified Volga-Dnepr it was doing so. Boeing signed a new 747 purchase contract with an undisclosed customer on May 4, subject to board approval. A new purchase agreement for two 777Fs was also sent to a new customer on April 2 and has now been accepted. The other 777F may have been purchased by DAE Capital, with whom Volga-Dnepr had signed a sale-leaseback agreement on the three 777Fs in 2019 . The first 777F under the Volga-Dnepr agreement (66623) has completed final assembly and was seen at Boeing’s Everett (PAE) facility on June 2, with what appears to be a nondescript, white rudder. Unit 63784, which was still in AirBridgeCargo’s livery in April, was reregistered to Boeing in late March, according to the Federal Aviation Administration registry. Its new colors will likely be revealed shortly. The fates of the remaining three 747-8Fs and six 777Fs under the two contracts remain to be seen.

Court denies Volga-Dnepr motion for restraining order against Boeing

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Court denies Volga-Dnepr motion for restraining order against Boeing

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