Qatar Airways is walking away from its deal to buy the first of its A320neo jetliners from the European airplane builder Airbus Group SE.  Supplier bottlenecks have prevented Airbus from getting the plane out to its customers on time.

"We are five aircraft down this summer," said Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) annual meeting in Dublin last week.  "This is why we are screaming because it is making a huge impact on my bottom line," he added.

This is a costly blow to Airbus, and it threatens to get much worse.  Qatar was to have taken delivery of the jet at the end of last year.  Four more were expected to follow before the summer, but have not - forcing Qatar Airways to cut back its operating schedule.  If those four jets are delayed much longer, Mr. Al Baker may cancel those orders as well.  

The engines for the Neo jets are supposed to come from Airbus and United Technologies Corp. unit Pratt & Whitney, which has struggled to overcome the engine's performance at high temperatures. Pratt & Whitney claims the issue has been resolved, but Mr. Al Baker said the A320neo also has significant noise issues.  Al Baker is now considering ordering different engines, or even switching to Boeing 737s.

Both Airbus and its American rival Boeing are trying to boost production to meet higher demand from the airlines.  But it's proving to be a significant challenge because of the increasingly complicated nature of aircraft components.  The supply chain slump is causing some to raise similar questions over Airbus' upcoming A350 long-range jet-liner.