Special Airbus canal barge carrying wing from sub contractor to Airbus assembly line.( England to Germany ? )
Posted on 11/29/2010 6:32:17 AM PST by sukhoi-30mki
Boeing Dreamliner 'a failure', says Qatar Airways boss
The chief executive of Qatar Airways has criticised Boeing over delays to the 787 Dreamliner, reportedly saying that it has "clearly failed".
Akbar Al Baker said he had been "taken aback" by the problems that have plagued the delivery of the aircraft, the Reuters news agency reported.
Meanwhile, Boeing has announced it is revising its schedule after a fire on a test flight earlier this month.
It had hoped to begin delivering the plane at the start of next year.
'Foreign debris'
Production of 787s is about three years behind schedule, with delays mainly a result of the supply and fitting of parts.
A test flight had to be aborted on 9 November after a fire broke out on board. Boeing has blamed a piece of "foreign debris" in a power panel.
Qatar Airways has ordered a minimum of 30 Dreamliners, with the first due to be delivered in the last quarter of next year.
Speaking at a news conference in Paris, Mr Al Baker said he had not expected such delays from Boeing, because the US-based company had "pride in its quality".
"They have very clearly failed," he added.
He added that Qatar Airways was considering buying more Airbus A380s on top of the five already ordered from Boeing's arch-rival.
Mr Al Baker was also critical of Bombardier of Canada, which has been trying to break Boeing's and Airbus' stranglehold of the airliner production business.
He said Qatar Airways had been forced to cancel a planned order for the company's C-Series planes in July over concerns about their engines.
"If they do not roll up their sleeves pretty fast then the [new Airbus A320] NEO will eclipse
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Special Airbus canal barge carrying wing from sub contractor to Airbus assembly line.( England to Germany ? )
Yet it's been an idea that has worked for decades on other aircraft.
You are right, it's meant to compete with the A300-330, which it easily blows away. It gets lumped together with the A380 because they are the two most recent planes.
BTW, Airbus laughed at Boeing's idea of a composite airliner, and it appears they were to some extent right. Boeing is pushing the envelope seriously, and the delays are a result. However, after the 787 was underway, Airbus announced the A350 composite airplane to compete, and it isn't expected until 2014.
The way Boeing chose to build parts all over the world for the 787 has been a failure.
Well, I say screw Qatar. Latest round of WikiLeaks docs indicate that the country funds Jihadist terrorist organizations. Qatar should be under economic sanctions as far as I am concerned.
Boeing is very smart in that they have started a lot of sub contractor companies to get into the the carbon fiber forming business. You might appreciate how nice it is to have a bunch of subcontractors competing for your business. Especially when the sub contractors are in different countries often with government support. So not only to you get to pick and choose, reward and punish, but you get those citizens taxpayers to subsidize your parts. Not to mention the many state airlines that can be influenced to buy your jet since the state aircraft company made the parts.
When a third of the parts are designed and made in Asia, another third in the US, and the last third in Europe, there are going to be problem fitting parts together, especially when the parts are carbon fiber and can’t easily be re-formed like metal. Outsourcing has proven a failure at least in the airplane-making department.
+ 1 on your Qatar Air comments.
Great airline.
At least get your basic facts correct. Boeing doesn’t build parts anywhere out side the US. And, not much in the US, either. Boeing is and has always been an design, marketing and assembly company. No one has, nor does, buy a Boeing XXX part and put it into their plane, because Boeing doesn’t, and has never( pretty much ) ever manufactured anything.
So Boeing’s process for building the 787 is the same as it has been for the 737?
Not a failure, but mistakes galore played out by Boeing. Amazing how inept this company is! Heads need to roll over this!
How do you ‘reform’ a aluminum fuselage segment with out damaging the metal. For instance a visible, but near non feelible scratch in a aluminum skin surface can be enough to fail that piece. Aircraft parts aren’t auto body panels you get at Auto-Zone, no grinder on metal either.
Most of the C-17 is carbon, ditto the new C-130. ( I suppose those are failures too, eh? )
It’s the same problem set, different material. That’s all.
( Almost all large high end private business jets are all carbon. Ditto yachts. It is kind of an old material now )
Yes, Boeing buys, farms out, sub contracts parts to others, then assembles them. It has done this since WWII. It got the idea from the auto companies. You think Ford make’s it’s paints, brakes, seats, dashes, wiring, body panels, pistons, rings, seals, pumps, hoses? No, they do not. They assemble engine parts they buy, like you can, from other companies, and they assemble the body parts from paints and other ‘suppliers’ and they put it all together.
Honorable mention goes to Air France which loses consideration for cramped cabin, smaller seats and CDG accommodations.
Emirates has Dubai Terminal 1 going for it. Tip, if on a layover leave the airport and re-enter the Departure terminal. The food court and barber there are the best in the airport. I recommend the lamb-vegatable soup.
“Qatar has become my default airlines for business trips between Manila and Europe.”
I had no idea that they flew into Manila, but that is the last place I want to go here.
I am not so rich as to fly business class, but on my last trip back to Vienna, I wanted to change my departure date, but it was not available.
When I went to check-in, they said that I was upgraded to business, as a free compliment.
It was nice having a choice of five wines ;)
How’s that Airbus 350 coming?
Anyways, what large undertaking, commercial or otherwise is without mistakes? If each employee, makes one mistake a year, is that reasonable? Yes. So, you have 20,000 people working on a project over ten years that’s near a quarter of a million mistakes over the life of the project.
Since if you owned Boeing and you sent a management and technical team that you knew and thought to be good, out into the great unknown of building the new model jet, and now that they have millions of man-years experience, you fire them? And what, go to some mythical large carbon fiber passenger aircraft labor pool somewhere and hire those non existent people?
Nail - Head
“Honorable mention goes to Air France”
Yes, I have had a few Air France flights, ATL to or from Paris.
The worst in the world is to fly Delta US/Europe.
It is a far cry from the old days, when a ham radio friend
piloted the first 747 flight from Atlanta to Paris.
A once great airline has gone to the dogs.
My last flight from Paris to Atlanta...guy behind asked for a coke.
She said it would be a few bucks.
When she got to me, I said that I had never heard of an international flight charging for drinks, much less a lousy coke.
She barked back at me..Well, we are just trying to keep from going bankrupt!!!”
Fortunately for me, I had six 300 ml plastic bottles of wine in my carry-on bag. The days when liquids were ok.
Also, fortunately for me, Jan 2005 was my last US carrier or flight.
I have 100,000 Delta miles, but no way to use them :(
Cutting edge technology is always risky, computers or not. That new transport aircraft cost billions to develop makes it a very risky venture.
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