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Airbus A350 Entry Into Service Slips to 2014
Airbus has shifted final assembly of the first A350 XWB to the first quarter of 2012, with service entry of the new majority composite widebody with launch customer Qatar Airways to the first half of 2014, parent EADS has announced in its third quarter results. Further, EADS has announced a €200 million charge on the program. The company has cited the "maturity of the A350 XWB main components" as Airbus primary focus, though no other details about the reasons for the slip have been… (www.flightglobal.com) Altro...Particularly if the NLRB is emasculated.
Not a bad idea to push the schedule back even further. This will allow opportunity to ensure that QATAR takes delivery of a new aircraft with functional landing gear...lol (relax... just another jab at the homers... you know who you are).
Good.
For those pro-Airbus folks who love to ridicule Boeing for their 787 delays, this is a much-deserved reality check. It's no surprise that aircraft as complex as these routinely encounter scheduling setbacks. What is surprising is that people are surprised when it happens.
Isn't that industryspeak for "we can't find a contractor who'll go cheap enough?"