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Airbus strikes remaining A350 jets from deal with Qatar Airways
Airbus has revoked its entire outstanding order from Qatar Airways for A350 jets, severing all new jetliner business with the Gulf carrier in a dramatic new twist to a dispute clouding World Cup preparations, two industry sources said. No comment was immediately available from Airbus or Qatar Airways. The two aviation titans have been waging a rare public battle for months over the scarred condition of more than 20 long-haul jets that the airline says could pose a risk to passengers and which… (www.msn.com) 기타...
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Airbus should have been far more proactive in fixing this problem. The fact that they were so unapologetic and not forthcoming in fixing this makes them the real bad guys! If you bought a brand new Beamer and the paint peeled off the hood you would not have accepted this idiotic response from BMW as Airbus wants Qatar to accept.
Bad paint job? GM customers would not put up with that. In this case manufacturer just doesn't make them anymore?
Airbus could have solved the problem from the start. They shoulda hired Maaco.
Who can explain to the rest of us the true cause and condition of the A350 acne on Qatar jets? How can they be treated, and what will they look like if not repaired? When do these pitiful aircraft become legally unairworth ?
From what I've read, it doesn't appear to be a safety issue. It's paint, not structural. Composite components are lighter and stronger than aluminum but they don't conduct electricity as well (or at all), so for lightning safety there is a wire mesh overlaid on top of the composite structure that will conduct and dissipate the charge of a lightning strike. Evidently getting paint to adhere to this wire mesh + composite structure is a bit of a challenge. Boeing has also had this problem with the 787 but they've evidently found a fix and I suppose at this point so has Airbus. This is business and Airbus' tactics with Qatar Airways are best viewed as a form of business negotiation. QA has hit Airbus hard with very public allegations that are best kept private, and even hints of safety concerns with the paint issue. So Airbus is hitting back hard. In the end they'll reach some kind of agreement.
Greg, I believe the main issue is corrosion. The paint protects the aircraft outer skin and other components. Paint should not peel off brand new airplanes that are just a few months old.
Exposed skin needs to addressed immediately as premature corrosion can become a safety issue if not addressed in a timely manner. Also the corrosion inspection timing is already set by Airbus and this is happening prematurely before the inspection is due.
Exposed skin needs to addressed immediately as premature corrosion can become a safety issue if not addressed in a timely manner. Also the corrosion inspection timing is already set by Airbus and this is happening prematurely before the inspection is due.
Corrosion of the composite structure is a non-issue as composites don't really corrode. However, corrosion of the copper mesh, used for lightning strike protection - essentially electrical grounding - is another issue. In the end I think it's just a cosmetic issue but I believe Airbus should be held accountable. Customers typically don't like it when their brand new airplane's paint job starts looking like crap after a couple of months. Hopefully they'll figure it out and get things settled. To me... it sounds like it's a production/quality issue for the final finishes folks at Airbus.
I would think that exposed wire mesh at 600 mph is not a good thing.
