Qatar Airways grounds Boeing 787 Dreamliners, cancels Perth-Doha debut
Qatar Airways has grounded its fleet of Boeing 787s and cancelled the planned a February 1 commencement of a daily Perth-Doha 787 service, which was to be Australia's first regular flight on Boeing's next-gen jetliner.
That Perth-Doha flight has now been replaced in Qatar's timetable by an extension of the current Boeing 777 aircraft.
“Safety remains the number one priority for Qatar Airways" said Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker. “Qatar Airways will resume 787 operations when we are clear that the aircraft meets the full requirements of the Airworthiness Directive and our standards which assure the safety of our passengers and crew at all times."
Qatar previously grounded one of its own Boeing 787s in December when the jet developed a similar issue which forced a United Airlines 787 to make an emergency landing on December 4 following the failure of one of six generators.
“These problems are unacceptable because this aircraft has been flying for the last 14 months” Al Baker said at the time. “(Boeing) have to get their act together very fast because we at Qatar Airways will not accept any more defects.”
“Two aircraft having the same problem – the same major problem – so quickly is a cause of concern,” Al Baker added, saying that “definitely we will demand compensation. We are not buying airplanes from them to put in a museum.”
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21 Apr 2012
Total posts 3006
Are modern-new design aircraft another victim of our 24 hour media news cycle? Or are "experts" just towing the line by insisting these incidents are nothing to be too shocked by?
Any old timers out there who recalled the delivery of the first B747, DC 10 and A300? How did the media coverage then of those aircraft differ from that of the A380 (Rolls Royce engine failure circa 2010) and the current B787 hiccups?
04 Nov 2010
Total posts 670
I'm not sure I follow you, Babushka, exactly what point are you trying to make? Are you blaming the media for these groundings?
01 Feb 2012
Total posts 371
I think hes just asking if this is the media being alarmist or is this normal? Its hard nowadays to know how fearful we should be of something because of the 24 hour news cycle.. just think of swine flu.
Anyway I was thinking this myself; every new aircraft has had problems, the A380 certainly did. So how normal is this?
03 Jan 2011
Total posts 665
My take on the Dreamliner (and I think David generally concurs) is this:
I'd be the first person to get back on a 787 the moment they fix the battery problems and start flying again.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
25 Sep 2012
Total posts 21
This is bad news, but must say I like Al Baker because he is so direct and to the point! No wonder Qatar Airways are going from strength to strength.
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