Qatar Tells Airbus Where to Stick its $220 Million Bill
Qatar Airways rejected Airbus’ claim that the carrier owes $220 million for two A350-1000s it refused to take delivery of. The airline denies that it was breach of contract just for refusing delivery and then accused Airbus of picking the number it owed — $220 million – basically out of thin air.
Airbus and Qatar have had beef for several months now since the carrier accused Airbus’ A350 fleet of having a paint degradation issue that has led to safety issues. Airbus does acknowledge there’s an issue with the paint, but claims it has no effect on airworthiness. Airbus’ suggestion that Qatar head down to its local Home Depot and pick up a can of Sherwin Williams to just “paint over the issue” was not accepted by the Qatari Civil Aviation Authority.
Qatar is currently suing Airbus for more than $700 million in damages in a UK court. A judge has warned the two that if they cannot amicably reach a settlement, one represent from each company will be forced into a Festivus-style feats of strength, and whomever pins the other first will be declared the winner in the lawsuit.
JetBlue Moves Closer to oneworld with Expanded Qatar Partnership
JetBlue Airways will expand its partnership with Qatar Airways in the coming months, adding more reciprocal benefits for elite flyers for both airlines, expanded marketing opportunities, and more-aligned schedules to create better connecting opportunities – especially for those Qatari residents looking for a good connection to Rochester.
Right now, loyalty program members of the two have the ability to earn miles when flying the other airline – but coming soon, at a time to be announced – they’ll also have the ability to redeem awards on the other airline. Qatar has recently shifted its points currency to BA’s Avios, which could create an end-around for BA Executive Club members to redeem travel on JetBlue.
The two carriers also plan to develop an integrated airside transfer option for passenger when connecting at New York/JFK to or from Doha. The two have partnered together for more than a decade – since 2011 – and the relationship has only grown once Qatar’s senior leadership began drinking Dunkin’ coffee each morning.
BA to Reduce Schedule
British Airways will reduce its schedule over the next several weeks as the carrier looks to avoid another operational meltdown like last week when thousands of passengers were stuck waiting hours for luggage at London/Heathrow or waiting on gates to open on aircraft that had already landed.
CEO Sean Doyle told staff that customers were “rightly fed up,” and said that frontline employees were frustrated as well. Doyle believes the issues stemmed from the carrier’s immediate ramp up as several travel restrictions were lifted – and not the fact that someone mistakenly replaced the carrier’s tea provisions with decaf without telling anyone.
The airline is also battling space issues at its home airport as Heathrow officials still have not opened up T4 – and don’t plan to do so until the summer at the earliest. BA is forced to share its current home in T5 with Qatar, China Southern, Iberia, AA, and an overwhelming amount of duty-free shops, leading to congestion issues in the airport and on the ramp.
- American unveiled a Medal of Honor themed airplane, in tribute to those who survived a cross-country flight in AA’s basic economy.
- Azur Air and Ural Airlines began furloughing staff this week.
- JetBlue secured the slots to serve both London/Gatwick and London/Heathrow from Boston this summer.
- LOT will return to Delhi with 3x-weekly service beginning March 29, and will then add new service to Mumbai in May.
- Lufthansa‘s maintenance subsidiary — Lufthansa Technik — was suspended in South Africa after a series of maintenance issues caused Comair to be suspended last week.
- Norwegian is reopening its base in Helsinki.
- Royal Air Maroc plans to begin replacing its B737 fleet sometime next year.
- Virgin Australia was victorious in Australia’s High Court winning an appeal of a suit brought on by Wells Fargo regarding what defined returning engines to their owner when the carrier went into bankruptcy. The carrier made the engines available to Wells Fargo to pick up in Australia, while the bank insisted the airline was responsible for transporting the engines to Florida.
- Wizz Air recently signed an agreement to receive three new A321-200 neo aircraft later this year.
What do you call a cow with two legs? Lean beef. If the cow has no legs, then it’s ground beef.