Qantas Frequent Flyer - Qantas and the A330...

Erro - we all know that QF were totally averse to anything Airbus, and were totally focussed on Boeing - until they needed something massive, and the A380 was the only product in town.

As well all know, QF got the A330 at bargain basement prices to get them to order the A380, and also got more A330's as compensation for late A380 deliveries.

But the QF group has since ordered more A330's (which are not part of any compensation package).

The rumblings that I have heard is that QF is more than happy with the A330, and is tacitly wishing that they had ordered the bird earlier as a core part of the fleet.

Has anyone else heard such rumblings?

I know from a passnger POV, the A330 is vastly superior to the B767 (and also possibly the B777, which QF also doesn't operate), but this is purely from passenger experience, totally unrelated to the economics of operating the aircraft.

So, any views on QF's reluctance to order Airbus products until they absolutely had to?

Dave

The A330 is a decade newer than the B767 and "fixed" all the mistakes of that model; similarly the B787 will make the A330 obsolete. Airlines with large cargo operations love the A330 over the 767 as the slightly larger fuselage guage almost doubles the effective cargo volume. Also the turnaround and maintenance times are better than for the older plane (plus some pilot efficiencies in the newer instrumentation). Of course the recently discovered pitot problems and the unintended autopilot activities of the A330-200 is making it maybe the least desired plane in the world this month. Certainly the facts behind the AF 332 crash are shocking and directly relevant to QF's fleet. The last thing QF wants is to see their 332s grounded for a few weeks while being refurbished.

The B787 delays have made the A330 viable and economical over where the B767 fleet was in its life cycle. Boeing was caught out with nothing to sell for a few years (at a time when QF needed the planes). The huge success of the B777 combined with some unrealistic airline load projections caused Boeing to ignore the B767 market for a bit longer than it should have (they really thought 777s were the answer). Now the B787 technology is so good that it really will be the dream plane for both pax and airlines alike -- if it ever flies, that is.

Edit to add that B787 delivery was in 2008 for the original QF order (back in 2004? something like that), so the 787 delays have really opened up the need and viability of the A330s when QF really needed some 767s replaced.

Edit to add that B787 delivery was in 2008 for the original QF order (back in 2004? something like that), so the 787 delays have really opened up the need and viability of the A330s when QF really needed some 767s replaced.

They were ordered in March 2006 and November 2007.
From Boeing site:

Orders for September 2000 through September 2009
Customer Name Country Region Model Engine Order Date Total
Qantas AUSTRALIA Oceania 787-8 GE 30-Mar-2006 15
Qantas AUSTRALIA Oceania 787-9 GE 30-Mar-2006 15
Qantas AUSTRALIA Oceania 787-9 GE 30-Nov-2007 20
Total 50

Of course the recently discovered pitot problems and the unintended autopilot activities of the A330-200 is making it maybe the least desired plane in the world this month. Certainly the facts behind the AF 332 crash are shocking and directly relevant to QF's fleet.On pitots, is there much beyond the Goodrich/Thales issue that really needs rectifying in the short term? And does QF have Goodrich or Thales? ISTR that 80% of the fleet has Goodrich installed anyway, as it was standard fit; and only an older Thales version is problematic.

QF has Goodrich, however there are 2 and possibly 3 autopilot malfunctions on QF that are as yet unexplained (still under investigation, though the oldest is a year old now). The symptoms match pitot malfunction, suggesting other failure modes exist that are not yet understood. It does seem to be an A330-200 specific problem, fwiw. A bit like the B767 spoiler problems (very mysterious until resolved) and the "impossible" B737 rudder malfunctions that rolled a few planes into the ground. I've chosen to avoid flying on A332's for the time being.

Thanks for that - I understand what you're saying.