Qatar backs Airbus, Boeing over flaws

The head of Qatar Airways, usually one of the aircraft industry's fiercest critics, expressed confidence that Airbus and Boeing would resolve a series of high-profile glitches but warned against further production delays. The endorsements from a top industry figure best known for lambasting manufacturers over delays will come as a relief to both planemakers as they count the cost of recent mishaps. Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said it was normal for new aircraft such as the Airbus A380 superjumbo and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner to have teething problems and stressed safety was not an issue. He also seemed satisfied with Boeing's production plans for its new 787 Dreamliner, although many analysts have described the company's plans to boost production to 10 aircraft a month by end-2013 from 2.5 now as optimistic. "The 787 will be a very good airplane. I am confident," Al Baker told Reuters at a trade show on Wednesday. "I cannot discuss the details, but I can tell you that they have a very achievable ramp-up strategy," he said after being briefed on the plans for record wide-body aircraft production. Boeing is grappling with a problem of delamination or the separation of bonded layers in part of the composite structure of its lightweight Dreamliner, while Airbus is wrestling with a series of cracks on components inside the wings of its A380 superjumbo. "I think they will solve the problems with the A380. It is not a big issue... it is an aircraft that is in its infancy," said Al Baker. Analysts say Airbus parent EADS may take a charge of some €100m euros for the cost of repairing the cracks and Airbus CEO Tom Enders has told staff the A380's reputation is at stake and that no costs will be spared to resolve this. EADS will report 2011 earnings on Thursday. Al Baker's remarks at a major travel industry event in Berlin contrast with his comments during the Dubaiair show in November when he questioned whether Airbus was "still learning how to build aircraft". He has also recently criticised the Boeing 747-8 for being overweight and burning too much fuel.