We’ve heard of airlines canceling orders with aircraft manufacturers‘. However, it’s not often you see an aircraft manufacturer terminate a contract with an airline.
In this post:
Airbus won’t sell A321neos to Qatar Airways
Years ago Qatar Airways placed an order for 50 Airbus A321 family aircraft, including 40 A321neos and 10 A321LRs. It has today been revealed that Airbus has terminated its contract to sell these planes to Qatar Airways.
The order is worth over $6 billion at list prices. It’s not yet known what exactly the terms were of this order termination, and whether Airbus had to pay any sort of penalty, or had a clause allowing the order to be canceled on such short notice. Qatar Airways was supposed to take delivery of these planes starting in 2023, so I guess that opens up some delivery slots for other airlines on pretty short notice.
This presents a serious issue for Qatar Airways, as these were the only narrow body aircraft that the airline had on order. Qatar Airways also ordered some Boeing 737 MAXs a long time ago, but that order was canceled a couple of years back. The plan was for the latest generation A321s to be used to refresh the short haul fleet. The Doha-based carrier was going to introduce a new inflight experience on these planes, including an all-new business class.
Time will tell how this situation evolves — is Airbus just flexing here, or will Qatar Airways be forced to buy the Boeing 737 MAX?
Why would Airbus cancel Qatar Airways’ order?
As mentioned above, it’s an unprecedented move for an aircraft manufacturer to terminate an order with an airline, so what’s the motivation here? Airbus and Qatar Airways are currently in a $600+ million legal dispute:
- In August 2021, Qatar Airways started grounding select Airbus A350 jets, as the carrier had reported a “significant condition” across the Airbus A350 fleet, whereby “the fuselage surface below the paint is degrading at an accelerated rate” (below is a video showing some of the peeling and cracking)
- The challenge is that Airbus denies that there’s a serious problem with the A350, and claims that Qatar Airways’ complaints are about cosmetic issues; Airbus accuses Qatar Airways of “ongoing mischaracterizations of non-structural surface degradation”
- Qatar Airways claims that this is a safety issue, and that the airline won’t unground planes until a permanent solution is found; initially we saw a dozen planes grounded, but that number is now up to over 20, and it’s causing operational issues for the airline
- Airbus and Qatar Airways are now engaged in a legal dispute, as the two companies are at a standstill
In an interview, Qatar Airways’ CEO stated that the relationship between the two companies is “destroyed,” claiming that “with Airbus the damage is very severe, I don’t know we will be able to work with them again.”
So it seems that Airbus has taken this to the next level, and no longer wants to sell the 50 A321 jets to the airline.
Bottom line
In a drastic move, Airbus has terminated an agreement with Qatar Airways for the sale of 50 Airbus A321neo jets, which were supposed to be delivered starting in 2023. This comes as the two companies are at a standstill in a legal dispute regarding A350 issues.
I’m curious to see how this plays out. Is this just a negotiating tactic, or is Airbus serious here? If Airbus is serious, I imagine these 50 delivery slots will be filled by other airlines pretty quickly, in which case that couldn’t be undone. That would realistically leave Qatar Airways with the option of only the 737 MAX for its narrow body fleet.
What do you make of Airbus terminating its Qatar Airways A321neo order?
At least Qatar Airways is getting A321LRs...so they will only have 10 A321neos (LR version) on medium haul routes, like DOH-LHR or DOH-CDG. Routes that the Airbus A380 have already for Qatar.
Awh, I was hoping to check out the 1-1 “Q-Suite style” suites that Qatar planned to put on those planes. It would surely be the most luxurious business class on a narrowbody (of all commercial flights), bar maybe the JetBlue Mint Studio.
Seems Airbus should value its customers concern about safety first and not get into a push shove with one of its larger customers it has to survive with future plane sales period.
Am sure Brazil would step up to the plate with its narrow body planes.
Even the Boeing 787 is a good fit for short and long haul flights
Any fuselage concern is a priority safety issue to be investigated regardless of the manufacturer saying not so
Am I the only one in this thread to think that Airbus is in the wrong here. Qatar has a legitimate safety issue on the planes and Airbus says that there's no issue. Reuters did their investigation and has found other carriers, in other countries with exactly similar problems.
Now, I know you guys are all anti-Qatar CEO, but, none of you should be anti-safety.
Airbus, just like Boeing, has the "safety specialists"...
Am I the only one in this thread to think that Airbus is in the wrong here. Qatar has a legitimate safety issue on the planes and Airbus says that there's no issue. Reuters did their investigation and has found other carriers, in other countries with exactly similar problems.
Now, I know you guys are all anti-Qatar CEO, but, none of you should be anti-safety.
Airbus, just like Boeing, has the "safety specialists" in its deep pockets. Obviously they won't ever say that the paint peeling is a Airbus's fault.
Come on!
A commentator said that Qatar maybe has missed its payments on the jets and Airbus has used its clause to pull out.
How do you know this? Are you guys/gals a forensic financial accountant? If so, post link
/detail of your hypothesis along with your posting.
What annoys me is that these folks are dissing on Qatar and these same exact persons will be the first ones to hitch a ride in its first class.
Hypocrites!
"Qatar has a legitimate safety issue"
Says who? ...no other regulator found that to be the case.
The CEO of Qatar(his name escapes me) seems to be a mercurial character that plays this game from time to time. I've heard about the paint issue for a while now and the Boeing 787 dreamliners have been allegedly affected as well. Airbus' reaction seems to demonstrate frustration with Qatars' CEO who may have gone too far and could conceivably cause the airline a measure of chaos in the short run. He (the CEO) Baker if I'm not mistaken strikes me as unpleasant.
The real answer will probably depend on the outcome of court decisions. I dare say that both sides have high power legal teams on it.
It may well be that the issues are cosmetic from an airworthiness perspective. However, if you look at the images of planes with this problem, you'd wonder who amongst the general public might refuse to fly.
That goes to the question of fitness for purpose, rather than just airworthiness. Airbus...
The real answer will probably depend on the outcome of court decisions. I dare say that both sides have high power legal teams on it.
It may well be that the issues are cosmetic from an airworthiness perspective. However, if you look at the images of planes with this problem, you'd wonder who amongst the general public might refuse to fly.
That goes to the question of fitness for purpose, rather than just airworthiness. Airbus might win on the airworthiness argument, but lose on the fitness for purpose side...if it could be determined that customers would not fly because of the appearance of the plane.
So, finally, this actually might mainly be Airbus taking action which is designed to bring everything to court asap, rather than it dragging out elsewhere.
What about Comac C919 ?
It’s not unheard of in government contracting- and QR (and Airbus in a way too) are government. In my experience, about one third of the government tenders end without the good or service being delivered, because of excessive demand in relation to the willingness to pay.
Is it time we realize we have to break this Airbus-Boeing duopoly. Both of them are abusing their market position.
Bold move by Airbus, but stupid. Let's see if EU is brave enough to break its own duopoly.
Ridiculous. How is giving a problem customer the boot "abusing their market position?" No one has a right to be served by either OEM.
Airbus is a public company with thousands of shareholders all over the world. France is way down the list. It sucks for other reasons but Airbus is not one of them.
Whatever happened to: "The customer is always right"? Hubris? QATAR Airways and Al Baker may not be the easiest customer to deal with but they are THE CUSTOMER. Strange way to deal with a customer issue. Airbus may be feeling its oats on the basis of a short term dominant position. KARMA seems to be the key word of the day here, and shortly thereafter is the shareholder. There's something wrong with this picture as...
Whatever happened to: "The customer is always right"? Hubris? QATAR Airways and Al Baker may not be the easiest customer to deal with but they are THE CUSTOMER. Strange way to deal with a customer issue. Airbus may be feeling its oats on the basis of a short term dominant position. KARMA seems to be the key word of the day here, and shortly thereafter is the shareholder. There's something wrong with this picture as they say. And what about the flying customer?.... OH yeah, we forgot about them. They may not forget about Airbus and Qatar. More to follow for sure.
Every business has the 'difficult customer' at some point. Sometimes it is in the business' interest to simply show them the door.
The customer is king, but not always right. There is a difference. I have on a number of occasions walked away from deals, almost always because of customer demands on pricing. Chasing market share is not the same as chasing profits. Companies can make “strategic” decisions to go ahead with unprofitable contracts, usually in order to secure more profitable business from the customer.
Negotiations are between people, and bad chemistry can destroy them.
Hello, United? Interested in some 321's? Yup. Our 57's are getting long.
I hope United does not pickup any A350. I also have doubt about the integrity of a “panelized” composite airframe. United has enough A321 on order.
I bet United will cancel the A350s. They’ll probably just let the 787-10 and 777-300ER pick up where the 777-200ERs left off. Now that Boeing has released a higher-gross-weight version of it, United can use it to top off their 787 order. Plus United seems largely loyal to GE-made engines and the A350 doesn’t have a GE option. I know, it may be great for them to streamline their large widebody fleet, but it will...
I bet United will cancel the A350s. They’ll probably just let the 787-10 and 777-300ER pick up where the 777-200ERs left off. Now that Boeing has released a higher-gross-weight version of it, United can use it to top off their 787 order. Plus United seems largely loyal to GE-made engines and the A350 doesn’t have a GE option. I know, it may be great for them to streamline their large widebody fleet, but it will suck for those like me who fly at the back of the plane.
Qatar airways CEO deserves to be shoved heavily, a rude person and unreasonable demands, he better suck it well this time, Boeing should have strict rules and pricing on this guy to stop his arrogance once and for all
Couldn't agree more. It's time someone stood up to him
I don't blame Airbus for standing by their product. If this was a real safety concern, we would surely see other airlines following Qatar Airlines lead. It's purely cosmetic. The 787 had same issues early on with it's engine cowlings.
Love QR, but they went too far. Airbus definitely went a step further. Airbus last year even offered to repaint every A350 at no cost and Al Bakar declined.
The A321LR and XLR are hot right now and Airbus will fill the gaps no problem.
It is interesting that comments here directly accuse the airline. I maybe missing something but Reuters article says 5 other airlines have reported a similar issue with Airbus. We all know what happened when Boeing was left unchecked with the Max (people died in case you have been an ostrich). Right now pricing power has moved to sellers and so Airbus maybe using this as an excuse to exit and resell at a higher price,...
It is interesting that comments here directly accuse the airline. I maybe missing something but Reuters article says 5 other airlines have reported a similar issue with Airbus. We all know what happened when Boeing was left unchecked with the Max (people died in case you have been an ostrich). Right now pricing power has moved to sellers and so Airbus maybe using this as an excuse to exit and resell at a higher price, but pretty shitty move by them.
I am more interested in knowing if there have been updates to the A350 saga.
Product issues happen regullarly with any number of types of products; there have been other airlines that have experienced some of the problems that Qatar is complaining about on the A350.
Airbus has been working w/ airlines to fix the problem. Qatar is the only one that has gone nuclear in demanding the planes aren't safe to fly and to demand massive compensation, only to later seek legal action.
Boeing is also having...
Product issues happen regullarly with any number of types of products; there have been other airlines that have experienced some of the problems that Qatar is complaining about on the A350.
Airbus has been working w/ airlines to fix the problem. Qatar is the only one that has gone nuclear in demanding the planes aren't safe to fly and to demand massive compensation, only to later seek legal action.
Boeing is also having problems - of a different nature but problems nonetheless - with the 787 which are structually more alike than other non-composite aircraft. Composite aircraft are a new type of construction and there will be problems. Manufacturers such as Airbus and Boeing have good reason to fix the problem and work w/ reasonable customers. Qatar is acting like a spoiled child.
btw, I recently had a problem w/ an electrical component of a consumer product which I bought at a big box store. The faulty part is no longer sold as part of their product bundle like I bought so the people there tried several solutions. Eventually a manager gave me a much higher price piece of equipment to replace the single faulty defective component. I have bought thousands of dollars of stuff from them and they know it; they and I considered multiple solutions and eventually a manager said it was more important from them to satisfy me and fix the problem even if it meant they lost money on that transaction - but they will make sure I keep spending money w/ them. They, and I, know how to work together and we both win.
Qatar Airways doesn't know how to play that way and that is why this unprecedented event has happened. Sometimes suppliers do have to fire a customer. When there are only two western large jet manufacturers in the world, emotion and bravado should take a back seat. And Boeing should think twice about running in to try to gain to "help out" the customer from you-know-where that no one wants.
Put the shoe on the other foot Tim and imagine how you'd feel if you had to continuously go back to your "big box retailer"over a period of six (6) years, just to even get acknowledgement of the problem.
In your case, the intermediary (ie: the retailer) is interceding to resolve your problem. If the manufacturer does not honour the retailer's claim, then your "big box" guy is wearing the cost, not the manufacturer.
In...
Put the shoe on the other foot Tim and imagine how you'd feel if you had to continuously go back to your "big box retailer"over a period of six (6) years, just to even get acknowledgement of the problem.
In your case, the intermediary (ie: the retailer) is interceding to resolve your problem. If the manufacturer does not honour the retailer's claim, then your "big box" guy is wearing the cost, not the manufacturer.
In the Qatar case, there's no 'Better Business Bureau' to complain to, so the natural remedy route they have taken is to litigate. Airbus response? Cancel QR orders. Who seems childish now?
I am sure that when these multi-billion dollar deals are written up, they add the "cancel anytime" clause. I am sure of it. But, no consumer, in this case QTR, will ever have a "cancel anytime" contract with out reimbursement for them.
Someone who deals in contracts, please chime in.
So, on one hand, Airbus can canceled 6 billion contract, yes, but we don't know the details of such contract.
We go...
I am sure that when these multi-billion dollar deals are written up, they add the "cancel anytime" clause. I am sure of it. But, no consumer, in this case QTR, will ever have a "cancel anytime" contract with out reimbursement for them.
Someone who deals in contracts, please chime in.
So, on one hand, Airbus can canceled 6 billion contract, yes, but we don't know the details of such contract.
We go buy a car worth 30K - 150K & are forced to sign 10-20 pages.
Now imagine a the deal of this magnitude. Imagine the paperwork involved and the structure.
So, without knowing anything else about the structure of the contract, we can certainly say, on surface, its bad for QTR.
insane how the tables have turned with this pandemic. Can't negocitate a deal on a car or a jet!
Dumb move by Airbus, EXTREMELY DUMB! Now we shall all just sit back and enjoy as the plane-maker's credibility plummets, fresh customers begin asking for draconian, iron-clad guarantees against measures like this, and Airbus finds itself swamped in a litigation after litigation. Bravo, Qatar Airways! Show them that as the world's leading airline, you won't be taken for granted or pushed around and that you will take nothing less than the perfect! Your relentless pursuit...
Dumb move by Airbus, EXTREMELY DUMB! Now we shall all just sit back and enjoy as the plane-maker's credibility plummets, fresh customers begin asking for draconian, iron-clad guarantees against measures like this, and Airbus finds itself swamped in a litigation after litigation. Bravo, Qatar Airways! Show them that as the world's leading airline, you won't be taken for granted or pushed around and that you will take nothing less than the perfect! Your relentless pursuit of excellence and efforts to be continually the best airline in the world has no doubt earned you countless jealous adversaries and critics. Never mind THEM! They are NON-ENTITIES not worth commenting upon. And you will soon be besieged by other plane-makers offering types equivalent to or better than Airbus's. Just keep up the good fight and DON'T YIELD AN INCH, or it would be YOU going down the drain.
You know almost everything you wrote there is the dumbest nonsensical gibberish I read…
Put down the crack pipe dude, it's gonna be okay.
Qatar Airways is expected to fight the A321 contract's termination, having said it plans to take delivery of the jets even though it is refusing to take more A350s until a dispute over surface erosion on the larger planes has been resolved.
If I was Mr Boeing this morning, I'd be having chats with my team about the NMA (797) and offering Qatar the opportunity to be the launch customer.
be the launch customer......and then cancel the orders?
Good for Airbus and let them order the Max at full price. But let's not forget that Boeing knew of the defects and repeatedly denied them blaming the pilots. Make a deal with the devil Qatar
Qatar is over reacting. The delamination of the paint is around a static discharge wick from what pictures were posted.
At most, a removal of the paint, prep the surface, and recoat per SRM of Airbus, and paint.
Airbus should be in their rights to refuse to sell to them.
Their regulator forced them to ground planes; I think they want Airbus to pay for that. Sure, it probably still might not bite, but its not so much an overreaction as it is a desire for compensation
Their regulator: the government aka some sheikh. The owner of Qatar Airways:
some sheikhs?
It’s convenient to blame airbus for a grounding if you cannot use planes due to Covid
... except when that carrier (QR) is short of capacity and airframes. But hey, let's not let the facts of the matter get in the way.
And you sir are incoherent should be kicked out of this comment section
It’s a wise business decision to cancel a problem client, especially with a massive order that can easily be broken down and sold to other customers. Clearly, Airbus has worked out the calculus and isn’t worried about Qatar’s reaction.
One has to assume they’ve missed a significant in progress payment or more that gives Airbus the opportunity to get out of the deal which to the BoD looks less bad given the ongoing legal bills etc. sometimes it is worth firing a customer, plus given how margin dilutive the original deal probably was compared to any new deal it’s probably a net positive
Smart…agreed.
Qatar played their hand too strongly.
The best option would be the new Embraer E-jet E195-E2 which was designed to compete with the Airbus A220-300. Embraer is a Brazilian company.
Embraer says “It competes with the Airbus A220-300. With the lowest unit costs, the E195-E2 could open up a new market and spur strong demand, moving into mainline territory. Embraer claims E195 trip costs are 22% lower than a 154-seat A320neo and 24% below a 160-seat 737-8 - but airlines install...
The best option would be the new Embraer E-jet E195-E2 which was designed to compete with the Airbus A220-300. Embraer is a Brazilian company.
Embraer says “It competes with the Airbus A220-300. With the lowest unit costs, the E195-E2 could open up a new market and spur strong demand, moving into mainline territory. Embraer claims E195 trip costs are 22% lower than a 154-seat A320neo and 24% below a 160-seat 737-8 - but airlines install more seats, widening seat costs further apart than the 6% and 8%.”
Embraer E2 family can’t offer the same range an A321LR could. Its longest-reaching variant has about 2,000 km less range than the Airbus
Utter rubbish. What does a comparison between the E195 and an A220 have to do with an A321neo???? The A321 is a completely different aircraft both in terms of capacity and range.
And lower "trip costs" are totally meaningless when they are used to compare aircraft of different capacities. Seat costs are more relevant.
Hopefully, Airbus is serious about this. Would be great if someone was finally telling Al Baker to shove it.
Wow, lots of Airbus, china and Russia fanboys here.
This doesn't help Airbus with their legal position on the A350 issue. It makes them appear retaliatory. It is also clear they are cancelling the order only because they know others will happily take the planes...this sets a poor precedent that Airbus will cancel your order if they later on prefer to give the planes to someone else for some reason. Maybe if someone comes along...
Wow, lots of Airbus, china and Russia fanboys here.
This doesn't help Airbus with their legal position on the A350 issue. It makes them appear retaliatory. It is also clear they are cancelling the order only because they know others will happily take the planes...this sets a poor precedent that Airbus will cancel your order if they later on prefer to give the planes to someone else for some reason. Maybe if someone comes along that will pay more they will cancel your order. So expect Qatar to sue again, and both cases are now stronger. Boeing may be too bean counter driven, but they are practical, and they will happily take this opportunity to appear more customer friendly.
I do not think that this is the way other customers look at it. From the start Airbus was cool about the problem and even offered to sit down and settle this amicably with QA, but QA took that as a sign that AB was...what's the word...desperate (which they were coz QA is a big client). QA used this to push further, defaming the Manufacturer and such. I like what AB did, sometimes "the customer is not right"
"It makes them appear retaliatory. It is also clear they are cancelling the order only because they know others will happily take the planes"
That is farrrrrr too presumptive to make any legal assessment on, considering that you (nor really anyone else here) has a clue as to what the cause/parameters/fallout of their disagreement even was. For all you know, Airbus could simply be invoking a liquidation clause in the original contract.
Well articulated!
Yeah that was my thought too. It sets a bad precedent, at the least in the mind, that your advantageous slot isn't as secure. Is there a tinge of cockiness in Airbus you think?
Wow，time to order C919
QR will soon be ordering the Sukhoi SuperJets and the long range CR929 if it continues to burn bridges.
Back when the A321 order was placed, Airbus was competing neck and with Boeing for airliner orders. Qatar and CEO Akbar Al Baker undoubtedly drove a hard bargain and got great terms on their large A321 order. Since then, however, Boeing has shot itself in the foot with serious 737 MAX (two crashes and lengthy grounding) and now 787 (production delivery halt) issues. Airbus has clearly distanced itself from Boeing as the world's leading airliner...
Back when the A321 order was placed, Airbus was competing neck and with Boeing for airliner orders. Qatar and CEO Akbar Al Baker undoubtedly drove a hard bargain and got great terms on their large A321 order. Since then, however, Boeing has shot itself in the foot with serious 737 MAX (two crashes and lengthy grounding) and now 787 (production delivery halt) issues. Airbus has clearly distanced itself from Boeing as the world's leading airliner manufacturer.
AAB and Qatar have played bully ball with Airbus over the A350 issue, and it looks like Airbus finally brought their own guns to bear and fired a nice broadside back at AAB/Qatar. With the A321 in high demand, Airbus can likely sell/deliver those A321's at better margins while filling other airlines' orders, making those airlines happy while hurting Qatar Airways' future competitiveness.
The only question is what contract terms/conditions allow Airbus to cancel the order. Assuming Airbus has the option/out to do so, me thinks Qatar Airways has gotten themselves into a pickle. It should be interesting and entertaining to see AAB's response.
Everyone siding with Airbus. How about Airbus supplying defective products, with paint peeling off. Would you be happy with your new car if the paint just started coming off? Simplistic I know, but maybe Airbus know their planes are crap and they will be caught out by Qatar who actually dare stand up to them.
Yes but paint is "peeling" off the 787 as well. It seems these new materials fuselages, probably flexibility also, need some different surface coating treatments. Meantime I am more than amused that the comments by Qatar were they are taking Airbus to court for a rapid settlement and resolution to the problem. Can't see that working out for them!
And on what basis are you making this point? There is no definitive proof that this is a defect, it doesn’t happen in any other A350 out in the world. Maybe it is just some circumstantial thing for QR and besides based on early accessment, it doesn’t seem to effect the structural integrity of the aircraft.
I am more then sure Airbus knows this aircraft is one of the best in the market and...
And on what basis are you making this point? There is no definitive proof that this is a defect, it doesn’t happen in any other A350 out in the world. Maybe it is just some circumstantial thing for QR and besides based on early accessment, it doesn’t seem to effect the structural integrity of the aircraft.
I am more then sure Airbus knows this aircraft is one of the best in the market and so does it almost every airline who flies it, including the airline I particularly work for
Upon that QR is doing little in terms of finding a solution, they are more into getting a payout out of Airbus then to find the reason behind the cause.
Be careful who you are siding for without seeing the side you are siding for has a more sinister motive
But AB acknowledged that there was a problem, and offered to sit down and settle this with QA. QA took this as having AB by the balls and they went further and started legal proceedings, defaming the manufacturer etc. I think AB did the right thing here!
If the paint of my car started coming off, i would act in a solution-oriented manner: I would let the manufacturer fix the problem and use the car until it’s repainted.
What I wouldn’t do is: Quit my job because I cannot go there without a car and sue the manufacturer.
Also a simplified comparison.
And then again, maybe you don't have a clue what you're talking about.
@Lorenzo39: who doesn’t have a clue?
Interesting tactic by Airbus. Let's see how it plays out for them. Boeing could also take this opportunity to sell some expensive 737-MAX planes.
Excellent, hope they buy a Boeing 737 Max. After the repairs it is an excellent aircraft
And that would give jobs to a few hundred more workers in America
Qatar airlines deserves it
Not sure how the new Chinese and Russian A320 competitors stack up but could be an alternative. Being that the bean counters at Boeing are too busy taking care of the shareholders, I doubt they'll put out a clean sheet 737 any time soon so QA is stuck with the MAX option also.
Looks liike we might see Gulfstream or the other private business jet manufacturers have an opportunity to step up and fill this gap?
Nothing that they have, nor could build in the foreseeable future, is going to match the per-seat economics of a 170+ seat A321.
Even if you cram the highest amount of seats that the largest Gulfstream is certified to hold, the CASM would be atrocious; causing QR to completely reevaluate what kind of thin markets could sustain such a service.
Is no even the 3 times Airbus does this. We can see is evil side as just as any company of this world. Something on my brain tell me Russia and China are going to get up on the planes market. Everyone say not, but that was the same thing they say with Airbus on the past. A new era may come!
Western passengers - the ones with money and which QR and every other airline wants - are not going to fly on Russian, Chinese or any other non-western aircraft. Russia has been building commercial aircraft for decades and no western airline has operated them for any extended period of time, if at all.
And the whole way that China pushes its influence is anathema to countries like Qatar that want to thrive on the...
Western passengers - the ones with money and which QR and every other airline wants - are not going to fly on Russian, Chinese or any other non-western aircraft. Russia has been building commercial aircraft for decades and no western airline has operated them for any extended period of time, if at all.
And the whole way that China pushes its influence is anathema to countries like Qatar that want to thrive on the basis of their own wealth and power.
Sorry, but QR might have burned its own bridge just as the creek starts overflowing its banks.
@Tim Dunn. Agree with your analysis on Western ambivalence of Russian and (especially) Chinese aircraft. Moreover, even non-Western countries won't touch those aircraft. Here in the South Pacific, we fly Airbus, Boeing, Fokker and Bombardier. My best friend is a former CFO of our national flag carrier. For years they've been having internal company talks and also discussions with the minister for civil aviation about potential replacement aircraft. In the past (and currently) they've flown...
@Tim Dunn. Agree with your analysis on Western ambivalence of Russian and (especially) Chinese aircraft. Moreover, even non-Western countries won't touch those aircraft. Here in the South Pacific, we fly Airbus, Boeing, Fokker and Bombardier. My best friend is a former CFO of our national flag carrier. For years they've been having internal company talks and also discussions with the minister for civil aviation about potential replacement aircraft. In the past (and currently) they've flown Boeing and Airbus. A couple of years ago, the subject of COMAC aircraft (presumably the C919) was brought up by a hopeful Chinese embassy official with the (now former) civil aviation minister. Would our flag carrier be interested in future orders? At a regular meeting later with my friend and his colleagues, the minister apparently said the notion that we would buy and fly Chinese aircraft was "laughable". And for him personally it would mean.."political suicide". There may have also been a joke cracked by the minister that he would gladly "buy a Chinese washing machine or tv", but under no circumstances would he fly a Chinese built plane!!
Needless to say, COMAC will probably never wear our livery, and Airbus will (probably) be the winner.
They've been trying for decades, so eventually, yes!
This is not a negotiating tactic as they should be. Airbus is deadly serious as they should be. When an airline resorts to the level of hubris w/ a supplier as Qatar has done, then it is worth Airbus "going nuclear."
Boeing is not stupid. They know all that Qatar had to say about the MAX and aren't likely to jump into a similar situation as Airbus.
Qatar might find itself in the...
This is not a negotiating tactic as they should be. Airbus is deadly serious as they should be. When an airline resorts to the level of hubris w/ a supplier as Qatar has done, then it is worth Airbus "going nuclear."
Boeing is not stupid. They know all that Qatar had to say about the MAX and aren't likely to jump into a similar situation as Airbus.
Qatar might find itself in the position of having to scrounge the world market for used aircraft.
You know what they say about Karma.
All in this world came back to you
Um, what?
No way I will fly in a Chinese or Russian jet.....bad workingship.....drunk Russian and under paid Chinese building airplanes.....no FAA over there.....no quality control.......you may be insane to fly in a Russian or Chinese aircraft.
Buy the max and give them back the a350s that are paint damaged
Time to consider China-made narrow-body aircrafts!
I have no problem also to try Russia plane the 21( I don't remember the be now) as someone who use to Have Russian products in the past . So maybe a new era is coming.
Good for Qatar! They were sold defective and likely unsafe airplanes. Airbus needs to stop blaming the customer for their defective design. Airbus is taking this too far defending their product when there is clearly a problem with the aircraft.
Hopefully they will be able to get a Boeing 737 Max order.
Time to consider Qatar-made narrow-body aircrafts!
TIME TO CONSIDER JAPAN TO ENTER THE PLANE GAME
AAB and his endless stream of oil and money and pouting gets old. Good for Airbus. Plenty of customers to pick up those slots.
There are better way of making your points made than resorting to stereotypes and bigotry. For example, you could have supported Airbus *without* bringing in oil or endless stream of money.
Well articulated!