FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - A350 grounding - what is the longer term solution beyond re-utilising A330s?
Old Aug 24, 2022, 12:05 am
  #59  
brunos
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Hong Kong, France
Programs: FB , BA Gold
Posts: 15,568
Originally Posted by qraec777
Don't get me wrong, but QR had several ways of approaching this issue diplomatically to sort things out behind the scenes. This is the real world where we are talking about making or losing millions of dollars and not some high school drama where you get to trash talk someone who made you unhappy. QR's product is excellent, don't get me wrong, but their way of handling of this issue? I am not exactly a fan of that, and that's starting to affect them as well (Leasing Oman A330s, deploying ancient QR A330s, frequent equipment changes incl QSuites).
If you call Airbus out as the "naughty child", what about the pre-2019 Boeing that launched the 737MAX and ultimately led to 346 deaths, even after which, Boeing initially refused to acknowledge any problems with the aircraft type and instead blamed it on the pilots? The widespread backlash is what caused Boeing to investigate the fatal flaw of the MCAS.

(If you want to counter saying QSuite equipments aren't related to the A350 issue, well, I was scheduled to fly the Qsuites to the States and back in January 2022, but lo and behold! the Airbus-Qatar saga intensified just right then, and the aircraft got swapped out 3 hours prior to departure. I absolutely love flying QR, but when flying a 5 star airline, I have my set of expectations.)
Boeing has been much worse than Airbus in the recent past.
But that's not the point.
QR had been a leader in introducing high quality J seats and service.
However, many airlines have been upgrading their J seats. Most now offer equivalent solo seats, some with closing doors too.
On the other hand, QR has been degrading its product and offering awful A330 seats on many routes.
QR is shooting itself on the foot. Its glowing reputation compared to other airlines is going down the drain.
It is a slow process, but as more and more pax experience it, QR will have a hard time growing its reputation again.
ANd they are not price-competitive anymore.
brunos is online now