Originally Posted by
QatarA340
Do not take it very seriously. The guy at the gate does not even know what FAA means or what a 787 is. Or that it was even banned. They are the wrong person to ask for aircraft type.
FYI, ground staff at DOH are not Qatar Airways. They are both operated under QCAA but are not the same company.
The people working at the gate DO NOT know anything in the news or probably do not have a university degree to know about last minute aircraft changes.
Qatar Airways as a general rule prioritiezes saftey over anything. If a plane is not safe to fly, they will not fly it. Take it from me.
Agree. I have been flying QR since 2002 and in my view QR is 5* in
- inflight premium class
- safety
But sadly they are totaly substandard when it comes to
- customer communication and information
- IT-solutions
- training and raising the skills in parts of their ground staff, basically in DOH
- DOH itself...
The list might be longer...
And my goal on beeing here at FT is to get and give accurate information, raise subjects if interest and to give fair and constructive critizism (having given up on contacting QR directly years ago - never ever any response or feedback).
In light of "fair and constructive" i find OP a bit substandard.
QR did take strong action asap QCAA followed up on FAA and made this statement on facebook:
" QATAR AIRWAYS STATEMENT ON BOEING 787s
Following instructions by both the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the United States and Qatar’s Civil Aviation Authority, Qatar Airways is implementing the Airworthiness Directive issued by the FAA for all operators of the Boeing 787 to ground the aircraft, effective today 17 January 2013.
Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said: “I previously stated that Qatar Airways will only stop operating our Dreamliners if we receive such an instruction from regulators..
“Safety remains the number one priority for Qatar Airways. We ensure all our aircraft meet the most stringent safety standards and this will not be compromised in any way.
“In light of recent events surrounding the Boeing 787 Dreamliner worldwide, we are actively working with Boeing and the regulators to restore full customer confidence in the 787.
“Qatar Airways will resume 787 operations when we are clear that the aircraft meets the full requirements of the Airworthiness Directive and our standards which assure the safety of our passengers and crew at all times. So we are not flying the aircraft until and only such a time this is achieved..
“Qatar Airways would like to express our sincere apologies to passengers booked on our 787 flights, but we are sure they will understand our concerns in view of recent events with other 787 operators around the world.. Our staff are assisting all affected passengers to be accommodated on other flights to get them to their final destination with minimum inconvenience.”
Qatar Airways currently has five Boeing 787-8 aircraft in its fleet."
But sadly only on facebook as far as i can see...