The spat between Qatar Airways and Airbus is finally over!
In this post:
Qatar Airways & Airbus reach confidential settlement
Since 2021, Qatar Airways and Airbus have been involved in a major legal dispute, regarding the condition of Airbus A350s. Qatar Airways claimed the fuselage of the aircraft was degrading at an accelerated rate, while Airbus claimed that the damage was cosmetic.
Qatar Airways refused to take delivery of any more A350 jets until the issue was resolved, as the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA) had allegedly forced these jets to be grounded. Meanwhile Airbus wasn’t acknowledging the severity of these issues, and claimed that Qatar Airways’ unwillingness to take delivery of these jets meant it could cancel its contract.
That’s exactly what Airbus did, as the aircraft manufacturer terminated all its contracts to sell jets to Qatar Airways. Despite that, the two companies have still been battling this out in court… until now.
Qatar Airways and Airbus have today announced that they’ve reached an amicable and mutually agreeable settlement in relation to A350 issues. A repair project is now underway, and “both parties look forward to getting these aircraft safely back in the air.”
The details of the settlement are confidential, and the parties will now proceed to discontinue their legal claims. The settlement agreement is not an admission of liability for either party. The statement about this resolution states that “this agreement will enable Qatar Airways and Airbus to move forward and work together as partners.”
The timing here is interesting. Just over a week ago, a UK court demanded that Qatar Airways produce proof of correspondence between the airline and the QCAA, showing that the regulator forced the airline to ground these jets, as Qatar Airways alleged all along.
This was requested because Airbus believed that Qatar Airways was bluffing, and wasn’t actually forced by its regular to ground these jets. I don’t have an opinion here one way or another, but the timing is interesting.
Will Qatar Airways buy Airbus jets again?
First and foremost, it’s good news that this is no longer being litigated, and that a plan is being made to get Qatar Airways’ grounded A350s back in the skies. These mostly have Qatar Airways’ amazing Qsuites business class, and this will allow the airline to continue growing.
As you can see, the statement indicates that the two companies will move forward and “work together.” That doesn’t tell us a whole lot about the business relationship between the two companies going forward, as working together could mean just solving the issues with existing jets, or it could mean Airbus supplying Qatar Airways planes in the future.
Qatar Airways primarily had Airbus jets on order prior to this dispute, with plans to take delivery of several more Airbus A350-1000s and Airbus A321neos. However, Airbus canceled those orders, so Qatar Airways instead ordered with Boeing. So far Qatar Airways has ordered Boeing 737 MAXs.
Interestingly Qatar Airways hasn’t ordered more wide body passenger jets from Boeing, so I can’t help but wonder if the airline is still hoping to buy planes from Airbus, or if Airbus isn’t open to that.
Ultimately Airbus is a business, so any transaction wouldn’t be about feelings. Then again, Airbus is in a pretty good competitive spot right now, so the company isn’t exactly desperate for customers.
Bottom line
The drawn out legal battle between Qatar Airways and Airbus is finally over, as the two companies have reached a confidential settlement. For nearly two years now, the companies have been in a battle over the condition of Airbus A350s, leading to Airbus terminating its contract to sell A350s and A321neos to Qatar Airways.
The two companies are committed to getting Qatar Airways’ grounded A350s flying again. However, it’s anyone’s guess what this means for the future business relationship between Qatar Airways and Airbus.
What do you make of this resolution? Do you think Qatar Airways will be buying more Airbus jets?
You will find out when Qatar cancels the B373 Max 10, because they are so late that the A321neos are also being delivered.
Qait a few weeks or monyhs. The CEO of Qatar blew it and will now try to trpair the damage he caused. Airbus will repair the A757 surface issues and deliver new planes as quickly as possible.
The authwe is right about the timing surprise of the settlement so shortly after the judge in London requwstwd proof of grounding by QCAA. He forgot to mention yhr meeting of the parties with there respective licensing authorities. We never heard a word of the results.
My assesssment is that Nr. Al Baker from Qatae Air saw the writing on the waee that he had overplayed his cards to get big concessionns. Hecould not...
The authwe is right about the timing surprise of the settlement so shortly after the judge in London requwstwd proof of grounding by QCAA. He forgot to mention yhr meeting of the parties with there respective licensing authorities. We never heard a word of the results.
My assesssment is that Nr. Al Baker from Qatae Air saw the writing on the waee that he had overplayed his cards to get big concessionns. Hecould not afford the loss in court, his reputation and the shame for the country. He is rhe bid looser. To discontinue all claims is just amazing. Airbus probably noe pays for repaire and Qatar Air for the reinstates orders (plus escalation ?).
H. Moers
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I am hoping that this will free up the Finnair planes that took over the Scandinavian routes to Doha a couple of months ago, will return to their previous service: Stockholm nonstop flights to USA (MIA, JFK and LAX). Once the Qatar planes are back in service, that "temporary" arrangement between Qatar and Finnair could return to where it was before the Fall of 2022. That way, Finnair could redeploy those planes yet again to...
I am hoping that this will free up the Finnair planes that took over the Scandinavian routes to Doha a couple of months ago, will return to their previous service: Stockholm nonstop flights to USA (MIA, JFK and LAX). Once the Qatar planes are back in service, that "temporary" arrangement between Qatar and Finnair could return to where it was before the Fall of 2022. That way, Finnair could redeploy those planes yet again to fly nonstop from Stockholm to various locations inside the US.
Or charter chains by Lufthansa eg the LH426/427 rotation FRA-PHL-FRA...
Qatar Airways will officially have no excuse to not put Qsuite onto their older A350s. If they have no plans to, then they deserve the type of criticism that UA got for their slow Polaris rollout
Al Bakhar had to use some common sense for once and had to give in. There are a number of reasons why Qatar needs Airbus more then v.v.:
- Qatar will not be able to achieve its aggressive expansion plans without Airbus Aircrafts
- Being dependent on the hugely unpopular 737 for regional flights will not work. The same applies to the 787 fleet whose conversion of C class seats into mini suites...
Al Bakhar had to use some common sense for once and had to give in. There are a number of reasons why Qatar needs Airbus more then v.v.:
- Qatar will not be able to achieve its aggressive expansion plans without Airbus Aircrafts
- Being dependent on the hugely unpopular 737 for regional flights will not work. The same applies to the 787 fleet whose conversion of C class seats into mini suites is just a compromise in comparison to the Qsuite. This is due to the narrow fuselage of the 787.
Furthermore, Qatar would have lost the court case since Qatar was the only carrier grounding those 29 affected aircrafts based on “safety issues”.
Overall, good news for Airbus and consumer
Its a Disgrace to fly an A350, recently i flew one from Bkk to Singapore in Low Cost Airline SCOOT from Singapore Airlines, the wings are just riddled with paint patches and during flight a big chunk came off,.... now all these chunks of paint of all these planes have to land somewhere polluting the world, that is maybe another question to ask Airbus?
Please tell me what A350s does Scoot fly exactly? And a paint patch came off midflight on a plane operated by a carrier from the Singapore Airlines group? I am sorry, but this just beggars belief
Its a Disgrace to fly an A350, recently i flew one from Bkk to Singapore in Low Cost Airline SCOOT
Tell us more: were you seatmates with BigFoot and Nessie?
...because those exist just as much as Scoot A350s do.
Wait till SQ got wind of your comment mate, then be prepare for some lawsuit from them. FYI Scoot flies 787
Reuters wire and other news outlets - including Aljazeera, report that Qatar Airways asked to have all the canceled Airbus orders reinstated, but the deliveries of the same will be delayed.
until the orders are confirmed again by both Airbus and QR, it is speculative.
It is not reasonable to assume that Airbus kept the status quo during 2 years of a nasty dispute including holding delivery slots and even the finished 5 A350-1000s that have not been delivered.
Other airlines want capacity too and Airbus most certainly sold some of those delivery positions, some of which have already passed.
Let's sit tight...
until the orders are confirmed again by both Airbus and QR, it is speculative.
It is not reasonable to assume that Airbus kept the status quo during 2 years of a nasty dispute including holding delivery slots and even the finished 5 A350-1000s that have not been delivered.
Other airlines want capacity too and Airbus most certainly sold some of those delivery positions, some of which have already passed.
Let's sit tight for confirmation about what QR is accepting and when beyond the grounded A350s. It is likely that Airbus will announce any one of several expected significant A350 orders in the next few months that will give some clarity about what Airbus and QR agreed to if that is not revealed.
Its official: TIM DUNN is the new Airbus spokeswoman.
no, he is just trying to prove the logical fallacy of some of the arguments that are being made.
I'm happy to hear that the dispute has been settled
Obviously the Qatar CAA didn't order the grounding. I assume QR will have accepted those A350-1000s as they yet hadn't been sold to a new owner.
I'd assume (I hope) that Airbus has set conditions for future orders/deliveries and shouldn't take any shenanigans from Al B. Speaking of, has anyone heard from him?
"A repair project is now underway......"
This is the closest you will get to an admission by Airbus. This went far beyond 'cosmetic damage', and QR was right to ground the planes. I've been in the aviation game for exactly 35 years and I was utterly appalled at the damage.
can I ask you for similar pictures from other airlines with the same problem?
If you don't have them, why did a problem happen at just one airline?
Is it possible that other airlines took the problem to Airbus which fixed it for them without the hoopla?
Is it also possible that QR tried to "fix" the problem and actually made it worse?
The beautiful thing about confidential agreements is that "we" don't...
can I ask you for similar pictures from other airlines with the same problem?
If you don't have them, why did a problem happen at just one airline?
Is it possible that other airlines took the problem to Airbus which fixed it for them without the hoopla?
Is it also possible that QR tried to "fix" the problem and actually made it worse?
The beautiful thing about confidential agreements is that "we" don't know the terms of the settlement.
We do know that whatever the issue,
we do know that whatever the issue, QR is putting at least the grounded planes back in the air and will be taking 321NEOs. As Ben notes, it is still not clear if there will be more A350s added to QR's already fairly large fleet by reinstatement of the cancelled orders
This went far beyond 'cosmetic damage
Then why did the likes of Delta, Finnair, Cathay, etc... all of whom both have stellar safety records and reported delamination on their A350s... not agree?
Didn't the same UK court already demand some info from Airbus? I seem to recall that happening around the same time as the regulator docs were requested
It's also worth noting that Airbus recently announced a design change regarding the copper foil used on the fuselage to safely handle lightning strikes.
I don't think it's that hard to tell who was more right in this conflict.
Airbus also reduced the weight of the A350 by several tons via lighter materials and increased the MTOW.
I suppose those actions indicate they had a flawed design too?
or is it possible that they continually improve their products -just like any respectable manufacturer - and find that some things work better.
Supposedly, the new coating is lighter which will improve performance.
Your argument would only make sense if this is an innovative new material. However the newly adopted ECF material is not a new material. Airbus chose PCF for some reasons but it might be a bad choice. The timing of changing foil choice, which is exactly the one causing the problem, is very interesting.
Airbus never said there wasn’t an issue - they just said it was a cosmetic VS airworthiness issue. Airbus acknowledged the issue.
I am curious to see if this means QR will ground A380s again in favor of operating A350s especially for BKK -> DOH route. I have a trip planned in July specifically to enjoy QR first class before its gone and hopefully I can still enjoy my first ever A380 ride
Given how full their flights are at the moment, I expect the A380 will be around for a couple more years at least with QR. The A330s need to go first!
You will enjoy QR first class on the A380... and unfortunately find the flight DOH-BKK too short...
I am okay if it is too short because I dont plan on sleeping on it at all so a 7 hour flight + time in al safwa lounge is worth it. But if they put me in business in A350 I loose access to Al safwa sadly
Q-Suites are best on the A350...hope they get more
Did the slots for the cancelled A350s and A321s get redeployed or could QR potentially take the delivery slots back?
I am assuming they have been redeployed.
Reports that orders have been re-instated
I would be very surprised if the orders don’t get re-instated.
If the owner of the airline is also the regulator, it's not bluffing, it rigging.
This is not guessing QR cards on their hand and calling out, this is QR holding the deck and pick any card they want.
If Airbus is stupid enough to think this is a bluff, they deserve to lose.
Read between the lines.
"A repair project is now underway" says it all. Guess who said its needs repair.
and we still don't know why some airlines had few if any problem aircraft while QR says it had dozens that needed to be grounded.
If Airbus chooses to fix problems which QR caused, then Airbus values the ability to reinstate those grounded A350s worth more than the cost of the repairs.
The worst part is we will never know. It could be QR, it could be Airbus.
We just know that both parties rather not go to war against each other but seems QR feels it has (rigged) the upper hand legally.
"we" don't need to know.
Airlines that operate and are willing to order the A350 do need to know and I am sure that Airbus has approached every one of them regarding these claims.
Product concerns are standard with something as complex as commercial aircraft and even more so with a new type of technology as exists on the A350 and B787.
Let's not forget that the 787 had major issues and...
"we" don't need to know.
Airlines that operate and are willing to order the A350 do need to know and I am sure that Airbus has approached every one of them regarding these claims.
Product concerns are standard with something as complex as commercial aircraft and even more so with a new type of technology as exists on the A350 and B787.
Let's not forget that the 787 had major issues and the entire young fleet was grounded while Boeing didn't deliver any for months recently because of production problems which the FAA deemed were safety critical. Let's also remember that the 787 flew several years earlier than the 350 so the teething process was earlier for the 787. Many of the QR aircraft that supposedly had the problems were earlier copies of both models.
I'd willingly set foot on either type right now and both are very fine aircraft.
The A350-900 clearly has alot going for it - it operates the world's longest flights between NYC and SIN and QF chose it to operate nonstop from SYD to the UK - massively long flights. There are currently 12 A350 flights in the air that are operating flights over 16 hours while there are 5 787s. 7 of those A350 flights are on SQ and are over 17 hours while there are no 787 flights in the air right now that are that long. The fact that Airbus got more performance and range out of the -1000 than the smaller -900 is very unusual with commercial aircraft models.
if some of the rumored large orders for the A350 materialize, it will significantly improve the A350s profile among world airlines.
Funny you say "we" don't need to know yet airlines that operate the A350 do.
Last I remember "we" are also going to be on these A350.
And transparency (or lack of) is the reason QR can easily rig the system and "we" couldn't verify anything. Without the "we" know part, you're suggesting airlines to just buy from marketing materials because Airbus isn't lying and "we" don't need to help fact check.
Just...
Funny you say "we" don't need to know yet airlines that operate the A350 do.
Last I remember "we" are also going to be on these A350.
And transparency (or lack of) is the reason QR can easily rig the system and "we" couldn't verify anything. Without the "we" know part, you're suggesting airlines to just buy from marketing materials because Airbus isn't lying and "we" don't need to help fact check.
Just like the 737MAX, "we" didn't do anything about it because Boeing decided that, like your opening statement,' "we" don't need to know. '
no, I am saying that "we" don't get to know the technical or financial specifics and so it is up to the airlines to know what is problematic and get it resolved.
Again, about a half dozen other airlines said they had surface issues with the A350 which means it was a given that Airbus worked w/ them to resolve it.
No other airline went as public as QR did w/ the scope...
no, I am saying that "we" don't get to know the technical or financial specifics and so it is up to the airlines to know what is problematic and get it resolved.
Again, about a half dozen other airlines said they had surface issues with the A350 which means it was a given that Airbus worked w/ them to resolve it.
No other airline went as public as QR did w/ the scope of the problem or, so far as we know, even alleged the problem to be as large as QR said it was.
Given that part of the settlement is bound to include no defamatory comments about the A350 from QR or about QR from Airbus, the issue is closed other than us learning how many, if any, additional A350s QR will take including the finished 5 that are still sitting in France. And it is a given that Airbus did recycle the delivery slots for the A350s just as it apparently did with the 321NEOs since the delivery date for those has been pushed back.
It is also possible that Airbus might have remarketed the finished 5 as well as the delivery positions for the unbuilt but originally ordered A350s and QR just might not need as many aircraft as it originally planned.
Given that the ultrafan version of the A350 might be out as soon as the end of the decade and QR also has 777Xs on order, QR might not take all the 350s it originally had on order
"We'' will likely know in time. As with all things in aviation, no way that details don't get leaked, given enough time.
@ConcordeBoy
So with all things in aviation, when will "we" know who is DB Cooper?
This is very big news
Not only was QR the launch customer for the A350-900 and -1000 but they were one of the top A350 operators.
The dispute had the potential to harm the A350s reputation to the point that other airlines would not order it as well as potentially putting dozens of A350s on the used market if QR hadn't been comfortable putting them back in service.
clearly, QR did not...
This is very big news
Not only was QR the launch customer for the A350-900 and -1000 but they were one of the top A350 operators.
The dispute had the potential to harm the A350s reputation to the point that other airlines would not order it as well as potentially putting dozens of A350s on the used market if QR hadn't been comfortable putting them back in service.
clearly, QR did not make its case about the issues that they asserted since the case was progressing through the European legal system. There are clearly issues with some A350s but there are pictures of similar degradation on some B787s; it is a given that both Airbus and Boeing are learning how to maximize the benefits of the carbon fiber reinforced plastics/polymers that uniquely make up the majority content of both of those models.
Ben is right that the joint QR/Airbus statement is not clear about whether QR will take delivery of the remaining A350s that were cancelled as well as the 5 grounded A350-1000s that were never delivered to QR and are stored in France.
If nothing else, QR managed to defer delivery of aircraft it didn't need during the pandemic but will now.
Ben is right
Maybe didn’t need at the very start of the pandemic but they have clearly needed them desperately over the past 18 months if not more, hence the A330s still flying, the A380 being back, Cathay/Oman Air aircraft being used etc. My last few flights on QR have been absolutely rammed without a single free seat (incl. on A380s)!
As I said at the time when all the sensationalist headlines were out about Airbus order cancellations,...
Maybe didn’t need at the very start of the pandemic but they have clearly needed them desperately over the past 18 months if not more, hence the A330s still flying, the A380 being back, Cathay/Oman Air aircraft being used etc. My last few flights on QR have been absolutely rammed without a single free seat (incl. on A380s)!
As I said at the time when all the sensationalist headlines were out about Airbus order cancellations, QR and Airbus were always going to make up and we’ll see both A350 and A320 orders back in the books, whether it will be quietly or more publicly announced. They both need each other!