Qatar Airways walks away from Airbus order over delays

Qatar Airways has cancelled the order for its first A320neo jetliner from Airbus Group SE in the clearest sign yet that supplier bottlenecks are undermining commitments the European plane maker has made to customers. CE Akbar Al Baker said Friday that months of delays to the single-aisle plane have allowed the Doha-based airline to invoke a cancellation clause. He suggested that Qatar Airways, the onetime launch customer for the A320neo, could walk away from more orders when the contracts permit. Qatar Airways, one of Airbus’s biggest customers, had ordered 50 A320neo-family planes and originally was due to receive the first plane last year. Airbus and the plane’s engine maker, United Technologies Corp. unit Pratt & Whitney, have struggled to get the A320neo up to performance standards, resulting in considerable delays. Al Baker said the airline should have had five A320neos in service by now under the original agreement. “It is making a huge impact on my bottom line,” he said. “We are, quite frankly, screaming.” Fabrice Brégier, the head of Airbus’s plane-making unit, said: “We are late compared to what we had promised, especially for launch customers. I fully understand why these customers are not satisfied,” he said, though he declined to discuss contractual issues.<br/>