Qatar's A320neo hassles result in Boeing order

[MarkR]

It's Qatars largest ever order.

Qatar Airways has placed an order for 30 Boeing 787-9s and 10 777-300ERs, and signed a letter of intent for up to 60 737 MAX 8s........Al Baker said Qatar Airways still has 50 A320neos on order, though the airline had previously indicated it had walked away from some of the A320neos it had ordered. “We never renege on contracts that we sign,” Al Baker said. “We will continue to get those airplanes … As you know, the neos are having problems … For us to mitigate the risk, we had no alternative but to order the reliable 737 family of aircraft.”

Read more:http://m.atwonline.com/airframes/qatar-airways-orders-40-boeing-widebodies-commits-60-737-max-8s

[Greg Hyde]

Interesting considering B737MAX hasn't been delivered to anyone as yet.

[Rowan McKeever]

I was thinking the same thing, Greg. The A320 was reliable until the neo... and even then, several other airlines are operating them with no major issues.

[MarkR]

I was thinking the same thing, Greg. The A320 was reliable until the neo... and even then, several other airlines are operating them with no major issues.

There are only four operators of the Neo at present, of which the three P&W powered operators have all had issues. There were 25 engine less Neos at Airbus in June waiting a fix, only 24 have been delivered.

[Brian Wilkes]

Al Baker is a hard man to please. I would hate to deal with him under any circumstances, and who's to say that the MAX won't have problems as well!

[Rowan McKeever]

There are only four operators of the Neo at present, of which the three P&W powered operators have all had issues. There were 25 engine less Neos at Airbus in June waiting a fix, only 24 have been delivered.
I count 7 or 8 operators, but seems I've missed hearing about a lot of these issues. What's been happening with them? I know LH is (or at least was) restricting theirs to domestic Germany flights, and I believe the startup time has been talked about.

[Greg Hyde]

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/airbus-delivery-of-pw-golden-a320neo-engine-immi-427892/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pratt_%26_Whitney_PW1000G

[MarkR]

I count 7 or 8 operators, but seems I've missed hearing about a lot of these issues. What's been happening with them? I know LH is (or at least was) restricting theirs to domestic Germany flights, and I believe the startup time has been talked about.

The data I had must have been from early August, as there are now 7.

Air Asia took their first first on Sept 7 and now has two, both CFM powered.
Interesting Latam took their P&W power First Neo August 30 and have not taken any more. Aercap delivered their first to Volaris Sept 12. Go air took their first in June and only have 2.

Along with the startup issues, and subsequent hydraulic issues which are believed to be fixed, Qatars frustration has also been with engine cooling issues overall (this was part of the startup problem), which obviously affects them more than most airlines.

[Grahame Hutchison]

The Qatar LOI for the MAX is just to pressure Airbus to work faster on a NEO fix.

[Greg Hyde]

We seen to forget that the B787 has teething problems as well.

Grounded when Lithium batteries were catching fire.

[MarkR]

We seen to forget that the B787 has teething problems as well.

Grounded when Lithium batteries were catching fire.

I don't think it's a fair comparison to say a clean sheet having problems is the same as a family variant. In recent memory all clean sheets have struggled, but this is the first time a family variant has had issues, albeit with one flavour out of the two. A fairer comparison would be to look at the 787-9 intro as a new family member IMHO, where there were no significant issues.