How Qatar Airways Tried to Outsmart Airbus - But FAILED Miserably

Video Description

January 2015. Qatar Airways became the launch customer for the Airbus A350-900 followed by the bigger 1000 variant three years later. They built their Entire brand around these aircraft, marketing them as the jewel of their premium product. But in 2021, Qatar Airways shocked the industry by grounding 13 of its A-350’s, citing “serious airworthiness concerns” and demanding millions in compensation, even though the aircraft were deemed perfectly safe by Airbus and the EASA. What started as a chipped paint issue had exploded into the most extraordinary corporate war the aviation industry has ever witnessed. But what unravelled was exactly the opposite of what Qatar Airways had expected. Airbus hit back ruthlessly by cancelling $20 Billion worth of orders and then deployed the nuclear option, invoking a contractual clause that didn't just punish Qatar, it obliterated their entire fleet strategy for years to come. By the time Qatar Airways realized that they'd just made a catastrophic miscalculation, it was too late. This is how a tiny paint chip issue escalated into one of the biggest corporate wars in aviation. Research & Script: Mervin Sousa Editing: Rishabh Narration: Oliver