4 ms·
This was first reported back in January when a Qatar Airways Airbus A350 was in Shannon for a repaint. When the paint was stripped they found surface coating i
by EMM_386 5y ago
This was first reported back in January when a Qatar Airways Airbus A350 was in Shannon for a repaint. When the paint was stripped they found surface coating irregularities. This is apparently cosmetic and not structural.
This was one of the first A350s to be repainted.
Qatar has 53 Airbus A350 aircraft, so why these particular 13 is the question now.
- jacquesm 5y agoAre they in a particular sequence or randomly distributed across the 53 hull numbers? If the former it might be a process change somewhere in the paint or resin/polymer formulation.
- InTheArena 5y agoThe rumor is that some combination of paint, stripper and CFRP led to the actual mesh being exposed. If so, that goes considerably further then cosmetic.
- jacquesm 5y agoIs there a link or some other substantiation to the rumor? I'm quite interested in this (but for an entirely unrelated field).
- InTheArena 5y agoIt's being talked about on the airline forums (PPRUNE and airliners.net), but no definitive source from what I can see yet.
- jacquesm 5y agoOk. This combination is also used in windturbine blades of some manufacturers, it may have substantial impact if it is something structural involving the base material, less so if it is just a rare combination of process/chemicals.
- systemvoltage 5y agoIf it is cosmetic, that doesn't explain millions of dollars of loss from grounding the aircraft. Respectfully, this makes zero sense. Is there something more?
- EMM_386 5y ago> Respectfully, this makes zero sense. Is there something more? Yes, the rumors that are swirling that this may just be something being used as leverage by Qatar against Airbus for contract negotiations. But those are just rumors.
- ezzaf 5y agoAre they losing money grounding them? They're probably operating fewer flights that pre covid so they could have more planes then needed and be using this opportunity to 'ground' planes with minor issues as a negotiation tactic to extract concessions from Airbus.
- samstave 5y agoWasn't Qatar one of the first countries to purchase these? I wonder where in the production line these particular 13 came off the line? It would be interesting to know if these are older or newer in their inventory.