Qatar Airways has both 787 and A350 at the Dubai Air Show,
but comments from the airline´s combative boss indicate their reliability
records are heading in different directions.
Source: Airplane Pictures
Akbar Al Baker, Qatar CEO said he has seen a decline in the
dispatch reliability of the A350-900 since the type´s flawless introduction.
Source: Manuel Belleli
When the A350-900 began revenue service for launch customer
Qatar in January, the aircraft´s reliability was “perfect”, said Al Baker.
However, Airbus has been unable to maintain that standard,
he indicated.
Source: Manuel Belleli
“We started to get teething problems recently, and Airbus is robustly
handling those” said Al Baker, who declined to give details of the A350´s
technical performance.
Source: Manuel Belleli
Talking to Flight
International, the Qatar chief pointed to problems with parts availability.
“As it is a new program, they also have issues with the supply chain”
he said.
Source: Manuel Belleli
Airbus declined to respond to the comments.
Qatar received last 2 A350´s only some weeks ago, with a
delay of around 3 to 2 months respect to the original schedule. The reasons
behind this delay was not detailed.
Based on the article “Al Baker criticizes A350´s reliability”
published in Flight International.
I knew the honeymoon was coming to an end. For months there was nothing but good news...something was bound to happen!
ReplyDeleteLikely political propaganda. Al Baker always does this. Trash others when he cant get what he wants and when he wants it. Unless we hear what the specific reliability issues are, the claims are unsubstantiated. Issues with supply chain are expected. Teething problems are also common but at least we know these aircraft are flying without catching on fire and getting grounded. So whatever the teething problems, they are not severe enough to make international news.
ReplyDeleteSo the A350 started with "perfect" reliability. Exactly how was it supposed to get better? :-) If the reliability is significantly below what Airbus promised, then we have a news story. But, again, no numbers.
ReplyDelete.Sounds to me like supply problems,why doesn't Airbus come out and say so? Why protect them when your own record is being besmirched? There have been delivery problems we know but mouthing off like this is not the way to do business.
ReplyDeleteJC
This might be why planes in the assembly line are taking forever to get out the door. Airbus might be pulling parts off them to send to customers in order to keep the fleet airborne. With all the silence we may never know.
ReplyDeleteJust as a layman, what I don't understand is how Airbus can max on the A320 and A330 yet when it comes to the A350?. It sounds a little more than just supply problems,tight lipped and keeping its powder dry seems to be Airbus's stance at the moment. Not much else it can do. The American Media is just itching to run in down, anything to smear Airbus.
ReplyDeleteThe supply chain is small,not much room to go elsewhere, which would be the thing to do, so Airbus is caught between a rock and a hard place. Still think that they(Airbus) should name names, let everybody know that its not Airbus causing all these problems. 1st it was Qatar in January(late delivery) then only 10 delivered in as many months-then Finnair (had to reschedule its operations for the new A350's coming a month late and now more delays to Qatar. Lets hope that these things can be sorted and fast. Good luck Airbus-you need it.
JC
Airbus is not Boeing ( who invariably pointed at others for their self caused vagaries )
DeleteEven if they do have supplier problems this is owned by Airbus.
Ping ponging blame doesn't improve anything.
Working as a team an not snitching on each other is the way to go.
I don't think that the American media is looking for a story to publish. What hurt Boeing is how much it over promised and under delivered. For whatever reason Airbus is pumping out A350's quite slowly. One aspect to consider is that Boeing and Airbus share the same suppliers minus a handful. If it were a supplier issue, like Zodiac with the seats we would know. But this seems to be deeper, hence the silence.
ReplyDeleteNobody takes Al baker seriously. He trashed very plane he bought. The rhetoric that he is picky and sets the standard is getting old. This is his MO. He wants something and is stirring the pot.
ReplyDeleteNobody takes Al baker seriously. He trashed very plane he bought. The rhetoric that he is picky and sets the standard is getting old. This is his MO. He wants something and is stirring the pot.
ReplyDeleteBut it's not just him, the frames for Finnair were/will be delayed too. He is picky but then why should he have to settle? I used to really dislike him but he's a businessman at the end of the day.
ReplyDeleteSo far I have traveled 4 legs with Qatar - 2 with their B787 and 2 with A330's.
ReplyDeleteWe had technical problems on both 787 legs and even had to deplane and board a replacement on one. Remain in an plane without any aircon for 2 hours at Doha airport at 9 in the morning is no fun.
Relax, Boeing makes good products so I am not dissing them.
What I mean is that how bad must the A350's be to catch Al combover's attention?
I don't know why everyone thinks we'll hear about every issue. Airbus has a contractual and commercial relationship with its customers which will likely restrict what each can say. It's normal for this to be more restrictive on the supplier. Also, Airbus is a listed company. Any announcement that could have a significant impact on costs or revenues must be announced in the proper manner - I.e to the markets and shareholders.
ReplyDeleteBoeing is also a listed company, and we had 10 times more information from Boeing and the media on the 787 than we do on the A350. Either the media doesn't care for the A350, or European media is not as aggressive. We also have to remember Airbus operates with a lot of backing from several big European governments, so their interests are also on the line.
DeleteThe 787 had on board fires and was grounded. That was the reason for media interest and couldn't be covered up!
DeleteTeething problems are normal for every new aircraft. Supply parts chain problems is also normal at this poInt. Delay in deliveries is also normal. Newsflash Al Baker, this is not news worthy
ReplyDeleteI guess Qatar also gets the brunt of it since they are the the launch customer. :-)
Delete