Qatar Airways forced to ground new Boeing 787

Friday, 14 December 2012 9:33 AM

The CEO Qatar Airways has criticised US plane maker Bowing after being forced to ground a new 787 Dreamliner due to a faulty generator.

The aircraft, just handed over by Boeing, has developed a problem similar to one that forced a United Continental aircraft to make an emergency landing, Bloomberg reported.

Qatar Airways’ third 787 exhibited the failure on its delivery flight from the US, Akbar Al Baker, the Gulf carrier’s CEO told the news service.

He said the plane has been grounded since December 9 and may remain so for at least four days while Boeing sends spares and a recovery team.

“These problems are unacceptable because this aircraft has been flying for the last 14 months,” Al Baker told Bloomberg in an interview in London.

“They have to get their act together very fast because we at Qatar Airways will not accept any more defects,” he added as a 787 began its service to Heathrow from Doha on Thursday.

A United 787 was forced to land on December 4 following the failure of one of six generators.

Al Baker added: “Definitely we will demand compensation. We are not buying airplanes from them to put in a museum.”

Boeing said its technicians "would evaluate the findings in Qatar to understand the root cause of this issue and take the appropriate next steps".

Qatar Airways took delivery of the first of 60 Dreamliners last month with the third 787 joining the airline’s fleet just days ago.

The Doha-based carrier expects to take delivery of two further Dreamliners on December 19. It expects to have 10 of the lightweight jets in service by the end of 2013.

Since taking delivery of its first 787 four weeks ago, Qatar Airways has been flying the aircraft between Doha and both Dubai and Kuwait allowing cabin crew to familiarise themselves with the airplane.

Made up of composite materials, the 787 Dreamliner is lighter and more fuel efficient than any comparable aircraft of its size and range.

Qatar Airways currently operates a fleet of 115 aircraft to 122 destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and South America.

This year, the airline has introduced 12 new routes, with six new destinations already announced for next year.

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Posted by: Kroner Derek Monday, 17 December 2012 8:18 AM[UAE] - USA

Airlines is a very competitive business and lot of the stunts they do to market that is part of the industry. Airplanes are safe and when they announce there are issues that just shows the dedication of an airplane manufacture to look into the issues rather shove under the carpet. Mr. Al Baker is doing what he should do but, he still knows that his safest bet is in a boeing which has years of experience and very strict standards bodies and NTSB which looks into this issue with dedication. Qatar by having just money will not help it grow it needs rationale and intelligent thinking to use money. There were many countries which had money in past and many will come but, it will be the right talent which will make the difference. US success attributes to that and immigrants made that difference, some arrived now some arrived ages back but all of the best contributed. Qatar is a long way from that. Even today the most innovative and stricter standards body are in the US. Qatar is ages away.

Posted by: Qatari Monday, 17 December 2012 2:15 PM[UAE] - Qatar

Such a good American.

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Posted by: Andrew Sunday, 16 December 2012 9:02 PM[UAE] - UAE

Yes safety is always paramount where Qatar Airways is concerned, that is why i just love flying Qatar Airways, an incomparable experience. I wish i could say the same about other airlines...

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Posted by: TMC Sunday, 16 December 2012 10:34 AM[UAE] - USA

I think Mr. Al Baker should cancel the order with Boeing, there is a waiting list of 3 years to get hold of the 787. ANy airline will be more than happy to take Qatar's order.
These are minor issues, every new plane will have minor issues, do you remember the A380?
If the Chief of Qatar Airways wants to show his muscle then he should be looking somewhere else.

Posted by: Qatari Sunday, 16 December 2012 4:21 PM[UAE] - Qatar

Has anyone of you haters paid for OUR new airport ? Why do you think you own it. I am sure that Qatar has the right people in the right positions. And you haters should only ask for what you pay for. Being World's best airline gets people jealous everywhere. Mr. Al Baker has all the right to demand compensation.

Posted by: steve Sunday, 16 December 2012 12:20 PM[UAE] - kuwait

like finishing the airport.

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Posted by: Paul King Sunday, 16 December 2012 10:33 AM[UAE] - UAE

This is good news....hopefully he"ll cancel the 2022 World Cup now!

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Posted by: Justin Edwards Saturday, 15 December 2012 5:23 PM[UAE] - Malaysia

Teething issues on an Airplane!! come on give me a break. You are talking about an airplane not a car. Once you have an airplane in the production line it should have already passed ALL the safety tests without compromise. If there are still issues they should be of minor scale not to the level it stops the airplane from taking off. I believe Qatar Airways has every right to sue Boeing and seek compensation.

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