In yet another move that underlines the difficult times the airlines are undergoing and their dire need to cut cost, Australia’s Qantas Airways announced on Friday that it intends scrapping or postponing its orders for 30 new 787 Dreamliner aircrafts of the American manufacturer Boeing Co.

Saying that the move will help Qantas save $3 billion capital spending in the current hard-hitting operating environment, the company specified that while orders for 15 of the B787-9 Dreamliners due for 2014-15 delivery have been annulled, the orders for the 15 remaining same-make aircrafts have been put off for four years. 

Noting that the airlines industry round the globe is struggling to adjust to a rather steep fall in passengers and freight, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce clarified that the recent Qantas decision was in no way a resultant of the Tuesday news that there had been an inadvertent delay in the first flight of the Boeing 787, due to some minor modifications required in the world’s most sophisticated aircraft.

To further elucidate the Qantas stand with respect to B7897 aircrafts, Joyce said: “Qantas announced its original B787 order in December 2005, and the operating environment for the world’s airlines has clearly changed dramatically since then.”

Meanwhile, Boeing spokesman Jim Proulx said that the company was working Qantas to make changes apt to the present industry scenario.