In June, Qatar Airways paused deliveries of Airbus A350 aircraft, citing a flaw in which surfaces below the paint were degrading “at an accelerated rate”.
Today in a statement issued by the airline, Qatar Airways has mentioned that they have, following the explicit written instruction of its regulator, now grounded thirteen Airbus A350 aircraft; effectively removing them from service, until such time as the root cause can be established and a satisfactory solution made available to permanently correct the underlying condition. 2 A350-1000s and 11 A350-900s are involved.
Qatar Airways has already taken action to return their A330 fleet into service, with immediate effect, to offset some of the impact of the grounded A350 aircraft and is presently looking at other solutions too.
In addition to the airline’s focus on protecting their reputation of offering the highest levels of customer experience, Qatar Airways is also cooperating with all the leasing companies affected by this A350 grounding; these leasing companies have also started to inspect their impacted aircraft.
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: “With this latest development, we sincerely expect that Airbus treats this matter with the proper attention that it requires. Qatar Airways will not accept anything other than aircraft that continue to offer its customers the highest possible standard of safety and the best travel experience that they deserve.”
“Qatar Airways expects Airbus to have established the root cause, and permanently corrected the underlying condition, to the satisfaction of Qatar Airways and our regulator before we take delivery of any further A350 aircraft.”
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker
I agree with Paul.. Strange how no other A350 operator has so far mentioned this problem!!
Qatar Airways mentioned that they’re the first A350 operator and their A350 has gone through checks with paint stripped to discover the degradation below paint. We’re waiting for more photo evidance.
Not an aviation structural engineer here but it is my understanding that Airbus used longitudinal composite strips for the A350 fuselage while Boeing used barrel sections in constructing the 787 – the issue may be connected to Airbus’s fabrication process with the strips. Must give Qatar credit for being super conservative with this issue, hopefully not an extreme safety situation.
Any excuse not to pay for planes to sit empty I guess
Which 350? 900 or 1000?
2 A350-1000 and 11 A350-900
Could this be why a flight I have booked in November from DOH to MLE has had 3 aircraft changes in the last couple days? I am unable to get my biz class seats assigned and expert flyer is showing every single seat on the plane as blocked.
It’s pretty simple to figure out, UV exposure throughout the manufacturing process! Leadership doesn’t care to understand the effects of UV exposure on composite materials, just get the work out.
No comment from Airbus on this? Seems quite serious.