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DUBLIN--Qatar Airways has canceled the order for its first Airbus Group SE's A320neo plane in the clearest sign yet that supplier bottlenecks are undermining commitments the European plane maker has made to customers.
Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said on Friday that months of delays to the single-aisle plane have allowed it to invoke a contractual cancellation clause. He suggested the Doha-based airline, and one of Airbus's biggest customers, could walk away from more A320neo orders once their walkaway clauses are triggered.
Qatar Airways had ordered 50 A320neo family planes and was its launch customer. The airline was due to receive the first plane last year, which it will not now take.
Airbus and the plane's engine maker, United Technologies Corp., have struggled to get the A320neo up to the contractually required performance standard, resulting in considerable delays
Mr. Al Baker said the airline should have five A320neos in service by now under the original agreement. "It is making a huge impact on my bottom line," the CEO said. "We are, quite frankly, screaming."
Fabrice Brégier, the head of Airbus's planemaking unit, said: "We are late compared to what we had promised, especially for launch customers. I fully understand why these customers are not satisfied," he said, though he declined to discuss contractual issues.
After years of strong order intake, both Airbus and Boeing are in the midst of an aggressive ramp-up of production as they seek to build the planes airlines have bought. Both plane makers have stumbled in the past meeting delivery obligations and have expressed concerns suppliers may derail them this time.
Airbus this year is battling on several fronts. In addition to the A320neo, its newest long-range plane, the A350, also is running behind schedule because some cabin interior components aren't at hand.
From this article and others, it sounds like they could easily cancel much more if not all of the order, as soon as the contract allows unless Airbus can fix the issues.
So, the question is, will they switch to Boeing 737NG and/or MAX, or will they use this to get some big $$$ concessions from Airbus to keep the rest of the A320NEO order?
Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said on Friday that months of delays to the single-aisle plane have allowed it to invoke a contractual cancellation clause. He suggested the Doha-based airline, and one of Airbus's biggest customers, could walk away from more A320neo orders once their walkaway clauses are triggered.
Qatar Airways had ordered 50 A320neo family planes and was its launch customer. The airline was due to receive the first plane last year, which it will not now take.
Airbus and the plane's engine maker, United Technologies Corp., have struggled to get the A320neo up to the contractually required performance standard, resulting in considerable delays
Mr. Al Baker said the airline should have five A320neos in service by now under the original agreement. "It is making a huge impact on my bottom line," the CEO said. "We are, quite frankly, screaming."
Fabrice Brégier, the head of Airbus's planemaking unit, said: "We are late compared to what we had promised, especially for launch customers. I fully understand why these customers are not satisfied," he said, though he declined to discuss contractual issues.
After years of strong order intake, both Airbus and Boeing are in the midst of an aggressive ramp-up of production as they seek to build the planes airlines have bought. Both plane makers have stumbled in the past meeting delivery obligations and have expressed concerns suppliers may derail them this time.
Airbus this year is battling on several fronts. In addition to the A320neo, its newest long-range plane, the A350, also is running behind schedule because some cabin interior components aren't at hand.
From this article and others, it sounds like they could easily cancel much more if not all of the order, as soon as the contract allows unless Airbus can fix the issues.
So, the question is, will they switch to Boeing 737NG and/or MAX, or will they use this to get some big $$$ concessions from Airbus to keep the rest of the A320NEO order?
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