JQ to lease more A330's due to 787 delays

[Erik H. Bakke]

Originally Posted by Greg F

These 787's are becoming a headache for the QF group......
I don't see why JQ don't remain all Airbus anyway..

As good as the A330 is, the B787 will far eclipse it in most areas when it is finally flying. Therefore, the B787 still makes a lot of sense from a financial point of view when compared with the A330. What could happen, of course, is that QF/JQ would order A350s instead (and then JQ could stay an all-Airbus operator), but then they would have to wait even longer for their new generation aircraft.

Now, the delays are really bad for Boeing, but the aircraft will be flying and delivered eventually. Anyone willing to sign up as a launch customer for a new aircraft should be prepared to face delays.
You would think that airlines that were already burnt by the A380 delays would know that. They surely should not think "it's not going to be delayed, it's a Boeing after all..." because these things have happened before, they're happening now, and they will continue to happen on almost every completely new aircraft project. No matter who designs and builds it.

The hope would be that Boeing could follow what Airbus did with the A380 and use the delays to ensure a much higher maturity on entry into service than what would have been possible without the delays. However, as the aircraft is still not flying, and first flight has been pushed back nearly as much as the estimated first delivery, they are not going to get as much experience with the aircraft during test flights.