Airbus (EADSY, Financial) stock took a beating as the delivery of its very first A350XWB to Qatar Airways got delayed. The jet was supposed to be delivered on December 12, but now the rescheduled delivery date is not yet decided upon. Qatar had plans of commencing the commercial usage of the jet from January 2015, but now is that’s out of question? As the delivery has been postponed indefinitely, many analysts are worried about the incident’s effect on Airbus’ reputation and customer confidence.
Airbus A350XWB. Source: Airbus
Another hiccup in the successful launch of the A350
Qatar on Wednesday came out with the news and since then industry experts have been speculating about the possible reasons. However, the airline was silent on the issue and didn’t disclose the reason. People who follow the industry know that late deliveries are kind of normal for Qatar since Akbar al Baker, the CEO of Qatar, is very particular about his jets and doesn’t agree to take deliveries until all his preferences are met gracefully. As pointed out by a USA Today report, “Qatar Airways has a history of late deliveries…the delivery of Qatar Airways' first Airbus A380 superjumbo was delayed by nearly three months after Al Baker refused delivery on concerns about the quality of the interior.”
However, on a positive note, as understood from the report of a Doha news portal, the jet is still expected to make its maiden commercial flight between Doha and Frankfurt in January as per the initial schedule. The report mentioned a comment from Akbar al Baker – “Yes, we have a small issue that we are trying to solve with Airbus. This issue should be resolved very soon and then we will be taking the delivery of our airplanes imminently…The Airbus A350 will be the backbone of Qatar Airways’ fleet … (and) the aircraft is already scheduled to do the first commercial flight on Jan. 15.”
How this might impact Airbus
Qatar is one among the most important Gulf airlines and if the speculations are true and delivery got postponed because of quality issues, that doesn’t send out a good message. In fact, this might cause other customers to take a more scrutinizing view at their A350 jets when they are scheduled for deliveries. Some even believe the incident might damage customer’s confidence on the much awaited wide-body aircraft. While it can be assumed that the delay has been caused by some minor issue and not because of some major technical glitch, and thus the impact of the incident shouldn’t be too negative, but the fact that the jet’s first customer isn’t happy isn’t a pleasing thought.
One’s pain is someone else’s gain - this is what the situation might have in store for Boeing (BA, Financial). The delay might cause many future prospective buyers to think over buying the A350 once more. If the European aircraft maker falters even a little, Boeing might get an advantage in terms of customer perceptions regarding its competing jets – 777X and 787 Dreamliner. Let’s keep a close watch on how things unfold and how all that affects Airbus.
