Why not have a little fun and go into to T7 vs whale contest? After all that roster and wave crap we have to deal with, some humour is quite welcome ....
Basically scandy is right that take the money and don't bother, but if i see a piece of metal eating away some of a potential bonus (!), then its hard not to give it a kick!
What Timmy said is very true and revealing:
“It makes a very material difference to our operating capabilities in the hot months in Dubai. Without that, the 777-9X doesn’t do that much better in those conditions than the -300ER does today.”
That's a jab at the whale, as it was initially designed to do just that, to take total capacity to the westies. The 77L was designed for that and can deliver, not so the whale, putting the 77W on these routes was a gamble by EK, the aircraft not initially designed for these routes.
So EK learned its lesson and this time insists on getting the performance they want!
The 77X might be able to do it and i predict a huge order.
Concerning the 350: It's already 6t too heavy for the 800. Consider the 1000 that needs the new wing-box to accommodate the 6-wheel bogies, then the weight issue will be even bigger. I guess a quick analysis of the LH order shows that the companies will most probably go for the 350 in its 900 version to replace 330'ies, but anything having to replace 340/3-5-6 and T7s, even 74s, will go 77X.
As to the whale, wait until the fuel price goes over 120$ and the premium passenger average revenue erodes at the same pace as the last 2 years, and the companies will start "whaling" themselves in the coming 2 years.
The future lies with the big twins 77X, 359 and if they get the "Energizers" right, the 787.