Qatar Airways has announced that it would push back the retirement of its Boeing 777-300ER fleet due to the delay in the Boeing 777-9 deliveries.
Qatar Airways currently has 48 Boeing 777-300ER in the fleet. The Qatari carrier plans to replace its all 777-300ERS with the Boeing’s new generation widebody jet Boeing 777X.
The airline has ten Boeing 777-8 and 50 Boeing 777-9 on order. Due to the recent technical problems in the Boeing 777X program, the delivery of the first aircraft has slipped to 2021.
In June, during the pre-delivery tests, some glitches were detected in the GE9X engines that will power the Boeing’s 777X. The GE9X is the biggest engine ever built for a commercial airplane. The problem has forced the manufacturer to delay the first flight of the aircraft.
Boeing was being expected to debut the 777X during the Paris Air Show in June this year.
The second setback emerged two months ago. On Sept. 6, a cargo door blew out during a high-pressure stress test on the ground.
The incident is the latest setback for the 777-X program, which has already been forced to delay first flight from the middle of calendar 2019 to early 2020 due to issues with the aircraft’s GE9X engine’s compressor. Despite the delays, Boeing said recently it was still targeting 2020 for first delivery of the 777-9X.
In August, Boeing said it had pushed back the timeline for the entry-into-service of its 777-8X ultra-long range widebody to “reduce risk” in the program. The airframer said the decision to delay first delivery of the 777-8X followed a review of the “development program schedule and the needs of our current 777X customers”.
Original article www.airlinerwatch.com and www.australianaviation.com.au
