Qatar Airways' A350 & A321 Order Reinstated

It also looks like Qatar will take some 737 Max 8s that were meant to go to S7, coming in the next few months.
https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/qatar-airways-first-boeing-737-max-spotted-in-full-colors

@ AnishReddi -- Great point, thanks! I updated the post to reflect that.

As the launch customer for both the A350-900 and -1000, Qatar Airways was not only a large customer for the A350 but also a very symbolic thorn in the side of Airbus by claiming that the planes were defective.
It is known that other airlines had surface degradation issues w/ their A350s, esp. early production versions, but they all managed to work quietly with Airbus to resolve them. There are documented cases of surface degradation on the B787 and an American 787 suffered a nasty lightning strike; both the A350 and B787 have carbon fiber reinforced polymer wings and fuselage with the highest percentage of the lightweight alternative to traditional aluminum aircraft construction. While CFRP's lighter weight and lower long-term maintenance costs are attractive, the material is more expensive to build and has very different characteristics with lightning. Qatar Airways' claim that the A350 was not safe during lightning due to the surface degradation issue hit at the heart of all new generation aircraft.
Airbus faced a significant loss in orders and revenues for the A350 with the cancellation of the remaining Qatar aircraft and the grounding and potential removal from service of dozens of existing A350s. Airbus appeared to overcome the stigma of the A350 with new orders including from Air India that favored the A350 numerically over Boeing's widebodies.
Airbus is increasing production of the A350 closer to pre-covid levels. While the pandemic shook the confidence of airlines around the world to order expensive longhaul aircraft, the reopening of global travel has resulted in a surge in demand that many airlines believe can be sustained. With the B777X the real competitor to the A350 and deliveries of Boeing's largest twin several years away, Airbus appears ready to capture orders for new large widebodies with its A350 which is already proven and flying.

So was the original unsightly surface degradation issue on Qatar's A350 aircraft actually fixed/repaired, or will the affected aircraft go back into operation still looking like eyesores?

A350 has the best Q Suites layout. Glad to see this happen.

Akbar Al Baker said in an interview that he finds "one crack" on any of the A350's or A321's he will ground the entire airbus fleet and file another lawsuit

I believe that Qatar airways always careful about passenger’s safety , and appreciated Qatar Airways courage to notify a large conglomerates about the production default.
I am sure this legal notice will be accounted the Airbus and careful for future delivery.
Anyway this is good news for passengers that problem is resolved

I took the A350-1000 on QR recently and found the passenger experience to be much more dismal than before. Before, seats were a good 18 inches or so wide. It's now clear that this is about 17 inches across, similar to the seats on the 777.

Shame. I had always looked to booking A350s rather than 787/777 for that small but extra comfort, since it does make a difference when flying long haul. I've always been a QR fan so it was kind of disappointing to me. Anyone else remember his claim that QR didn't need PE because their Y was so good it was akin to PE? Yeah..... no. Not anymore.

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Just like I said when the serialised drama was unfolding, just because they cancelled the order originally doesn’t mean they can’t re-instate it and continue like nothing ever happened! And here we are!

and appreciated Qatar Airways courage to notify a large conglomerates about the production default.

LOL, what kind of sucking up is that?

As we learned from the suit, Qatar wasn't the first carrier to have the issue and notify Airbus. That'd be Finnair.

Airbus appeared to overcome the stigma of the A350

What "stigma?"

It was just one obnoxious loudmouth whom, if we'll remember from 2013-2015, had already annoyed the hell out of both manufacturers to the point of litigation, by refusing to take delivery of aircraft because he didn't like how the carpet patterns (that HE CHOSE) looked IRL.

Multiple airlines were working on the issue with Airbus since Finnair first reported skin degradation in 2016, and the majority of them placed followup orders within that time frame.

There was no "stigma" other than in AAB's head.

So what does this mean for the leased Cathay planes and the a380s they brought back for certain routes? Are the current a350s “safe” for Qatar to fly now?

So you want to say that Qatar Airways has replaced their 18 inch wide seats with 17 inch wide seats on the A350-1000s. When did that reconfiguration take place?

Qatar had an issues with surface degradation on their 787s before they mentioned issues with the A350s. Al Baker himself mentioned in front of journalists, that Qatar sought advise from another manufacturer, who is selling a similar composite airliner like A350, in regard to the surface degradation on their A350s.
This sounds more like somebody called in the favors for helping to lift the sanctions impost of QATAR by Saudi Arabia and others to ensure the QATAR's new freighter isn't an A350F. The time frame for the paint saga coincides too much with QATAR's freighter decision.
QATAR is now at a disadvantage due to the loss of their Airbus production slots. They are also lucky Airbus didn't take advantage of the court judgment and sold their A350s to another customer.
The decision to get Boeing freighters must have been made above AAB's pay grade, AAB was only the pawn responsible to delivering the reasoning for getting/financing the 777-8F development. There is almost nobody other then the Emir himself in the state of Qatar, who can make a decision of this magnitude.