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Why Airbus Is Canceling Orders From Qatar Airways, One of Its Best Customers
For more than two decades, Airbus SE and Qatar Airways have been locked in a tumultuous relationship. The Gulf airline’s chief executive officer, Akbar Al Baker, has always relished a good fight, ridiculing the plane maker’s managers in public or refusing to take aircraft because of a perceived defect. Each time, Airbus endured the torment because the carrier is among its best customers, with billions of dollars’ worth of planes on order. (www.bloomberg.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
Right-click on the link and use a private window to open the link and you will get past the paywall.
That worked great. Thanks for the info.
You get 3 free articles per month then the paywall shows up. Perhaps thats why some get it and some do not?
It was interesting to watch the escalation of this complaint by Qatar Airways (I'll refer as QA) in comparison to earlier issues with, say, refused plane deliveries for cabin finishes etc. So here, it seems QA went too far for Airbus to tolerate, stating safety issues from their country regulator. I believe the head of said regulator is the head of QA. What we see in the video is not the first aircraft found with deterioration. Rather its from planes left out in the elements without remediation for months if not years. Clearly Airbus and the "paint" suppliers have to work out a long term solution, but the short term fix is to repair any lightning grid damage and re-coat (several layers) the plane. As stated, other airlines seem to have taken care of this and are all still flying their A350's and Airbus are still announcing new orders. QA therefore seem to have taken an extreme position and it will be interesting to see the outcome of the court case. Bear in mind that QA petitioned the court to prevent Airbus delivering any further A350's, so why shouldn't Airbus cancel their orders. Further, if it IS a provision in the A321 contract why shouldn't they cancel that order also. Has QA miscalculated the reaction of Airbus based on earlier concessions? The court will decide?
Maybe Airbus should add a flex additive to the paint like the auto industry does on plastics like bumper bars.
I believe both Airbus and Boeing have it in the paint, especially for their carbon fiber craft. Both companies are working on fixes but for now it is fix it as best as possible so it does not deteriorate. Qatar wants a permanent fix...now
Are they victimising Airbus when it comes down to a paint manufacturer more so? All conjecture without knowing more details, unfortunately .
It isn't just the paint thou. It is also the materials below the paint that are also reacting. And with Qatar, who knows (doubtful from looks/sounds of it) if they have been keeping up with the fixes Airbus has recommended until there is a permanent solution.
Conjecture? Maybe, but it is questionable when other airlines fly both aircraft and are still flying them.
Conjecture? Maybe, but it is questionable when other airlines fly both aircraft and are still flying them.