QANTAS -- A dying octopus

2012-01-27T08:40:00.005+10:00

It's all clear now

I am closing this blog because it has become clear what was going on at Qantas: The constant equipment failures on Qantas planes were deliberate sabotage by Qantas maintenance staff. The union knew that the work they do was gradually going overseas and that they were all in danger of losing their jobs so in their addled way they thought that their constant undermining of Qantas reliability would lead Qantas to come to terms with them and give them "job security" -- i.e. guarantee no more transfer of maintenance work overseas.

When Mr Joyce grounded the fleet, however, it became clear to them that they were dealing with a man who was not going to buckle and who would weather the storm of taking ALL their work away.

So what happened? The constant maintenance problems Qantas was having suddenly ceased. From that time to this Qantas has not had to turn back a single flight due to equipment malfunction. It is that sudden large change which speaks louder than words in revealing what was going on. The unions realized that the equipment malfunctions were a good reason to give them all the boot so have stopped their constant sabotage.

Further evidence that the union concerned is now shit-scared for their jobs is the fact that they were first to reach a settlement with Qantas under the Fair Work Australia negotiating process. They went from being the most militant union to being the tamest. And they settled despite Qantas refusing them one of their major demands: Bring the A380 maintenance to Australia.

These are totally despicable people who repeatedly risked the lives of Qantas passsengers with their sabotage. I think Qantas should still fire the lot of them and have all Qantas maintenance done in Germany.

2012-01-06T12:12:00.001+10:00

A380 cracks: check fleets now, say engineers

Plane makers in damage-control mode: Publicity damage, not aircraft damage

Aircraft engineers have called for Airbus and airlines including Qantas to inspect their fleets of A380s as a matter of priority after tiny cracks were discovered in the wings of five superjumbos worldwide.

Airbus has given assurances that its flagship A380 aircraft – the largest passenger jets in the world – are safe to fly and will be issuing a service bulletin to airlines this month requiring them to check for the problem when their superjumbos are due for heavy maintenance every four years.

But the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association said today that it wanted airlines and the European plane maker to conduct inspections for cracks in the wing-rib attachments as soon as possible. "There is no way on God's earth that I would be waiting four years to inspect them," Paul Cousins, the federal president of the engineers' union, said today.

"At the moment it seems that a Band-Aid fix has been applied too quickly to a situation that could become very serious. "This is a large aircraft carrying 520 people across the fleets in the world – we need to be absolutely sure it is flying safely."

Mr Cousins said he was concerned that the failure of one of the rib attachments would put added pressure on others within the wing. "Our concern is a continuing stress on the wing. In this case, Airbus and the European Aviation Safety Agency have been too quick to come out with a fix, rather than saying we need to investigate this further," he said. "It increases the chances that we are going to have a serious problem."

Qantas said the cracks found in one of its A380s under extensive repair in Singapore did not present a risk to flight safety and it was awaiting a service bulletin from Airbus advising of the steps it needed to take. "It is an Airbus aircraft. They are the experts and we will take their advice," a spokesman said today.

Airbus has confirmed that the cracks were found in various parts in the feet of the wing-rib attachments of five superjumbos – one belonging to Qantas, two to Singapore Airlines, one to Emirates and one of Airbus's development aircraft.

SOURCE

2011-12-15T15:15:00.001+10:00

Jetstar cadet scheme under scrutiny

AUSTRALIA'S aviation safety watchdog has now put Jetstar under intensified scrutiny for its cadet pilot training scheme after another botched landing attempt.

The latest bungled landing occurred at Cairns airport on a flight from Sydney on November 3, when a cadet pilot selected the wrong flap settings, the airline confirmed.

When the captain, who was flying the Airbus A320, realised his cadet co-pilot had selected the wrong flap setting, he called for the landing to be aborted.

But the cadet compounded his mistake by choosing a wrong flap setting for a second time, upsetting the aerodynamics of the airliner for eight seconds.

Fortunately for all on board, the plane was at 1900 feet and the captain had time to recover the situation.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority yesterday shifted its vigilance up a notch. "There is now ongoing monitoring by CASA of the Jetstar cadet scheme to ensure it continues to meet the required standards," the agency said. "If circumstances change, CASA will take appropriate steps to ensure relevant safety standards continue to be met."

The Age believes substantial effort in the safety authority is now focused on Jetstar's operations, and the agency is prepared to act on the airline if necessary.

Jetstar's chief pilot, Captain Mark Rindfleish, said the crew "followed standard practice and discontinued an approach into Cairns after detecting incorrect flap settings". "Anyone at the controls of a Jetstar aircraft has the qualifications and skills to be there," he said.

But the incident has sparked more calls for an urgent investigation of the airline's fast-tracked pilot training scheme.

Independent senator Nick Xenophon, who initiated this year's Senate inquiry on pilot training and airline safety, called on CASA to launch an urgent investigation of the Melbourne and Cairns incidents.

"Two separate incidents just a few months apart would indicate that this needs to be investigated thoroughly," he said. "I've been approached by a number of Jetstar captains that have expressed concerns about the level of training of some of the cadets. "I'll be moving in the Senate, when Parliament resumes, for the inquiry to reconvene about these more recent incidents, to call CASA, the ATSB [Australian Transport Safety Bureau] and the Qantas group in relation to this."

The president of the Australian and International Pilots Association, Barry Jackson, said: "When events occur on a regular basis then there's an issue.

"They grounded Tiger for these sort of things. It seems to me to be continuing events that point to pilot training and inexperience. "CASA's the one that needs to look seriously at these events."

Mr Jackson said experienced first officers were baling out of [Jetstar's parent] Qantas to be snapped up by the likes of Emirates and Qatar airlines, at a rate of one resignation every two days, leading to the recruitment of inexperienced pilots.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau was notified but it chose not to investigate the Cairns incident formally, after it was satisfied that cockpit alarms were not triggered and that the plane was still at a safe altitude.

SOURCE

2011-12-13T10:28:00.000+10:00

Jetstar pilots sent back to school after flying too low on approach

This is the first Qantas/Jetstar incident for a while -- and it was NOT due to poor maintenance, unlike most previous incidents. Marvellous how the maintenance has improved now that the airline's boss has made it clear that he is prepared to shut down the airline. That the previous incidents were deliberate sabotage by unionized maintenance personnel certainly suggests itself in the circumstances

TWO Jetstar pilots have been ordered into remedial training after a misunderstanding between them caused their Airbus A320 to descend within 51m of the ground well short of Melbourne Airport.

It took two warning signals from the aircraft's safety systems before the Captain and the First Officer, who was at the controls, realised they were far too low on approach and the Captain aborted the landing, the Herald Sun reported.

Both pilots thought the other was responsible for looking after the altitude, sparking major concern from Jetstar.

The July 28 incident, similar to several instances which led to Tiger Airways being grounded, is being taken so seriously by Jetstar that it will become a case study in its pilot courses.

It happened as the Airbus A320 was making its final approach.

The official report said the First Officer was concentrating on the aircraft's runway alignment and its positioning for landing, relying on the Captain for decision making and awareness of the height. However the Captain was unaware of that.

The Captain realised they were too low at 245 feet (75m), and the plane dipped as low at 166ft (51m) before the pilots were able to increase altitude.

SOURCE

2011-11-04T12:48:00.001+10:00

Engine drama strikes another Qantas A-380

It's impossible not to suspect rogue unionists behind at least some of these troubles

A YEAR to the day that a mid-air explosion forced a Qantas flight carrying 459 passengers to make an emergency landing, the airline suffered another A-380 PR disaster.

A Qantas A-380 flight bound for London was diverted to Dubai after suffering engine trouble.

Pilots on QF31 from Singapore to London were forced to shut down the number four engine about 90 minutes after take-off. It landed safely in Dubai and all 258 passengers onboard are safe.

Actor and comedian Stephen Fry, who flew out of Sydney yesterday after a national live tour of his TV show QI, was among those onboard.

He tweeted his annoyance soon after landing: "Bugger. Forced to land in Dubai. An engine has decided not to play."

Qantas said the plane is not the same A-380 that made an emergency landing in Singapore on November 4 last year.

An explosion tore through that aircraft's second engine shortly after take-off and rained debris on a shopping centre in the downtown area of the Indonesian island of Batam.

A spokeswoman for the airline said the timing of the incident was unfortunate.

“It’s definitely unfortunate that this occurred on the same day as QF32 and after the industrial action,” she said.

There are currently ten A-380s in the Qantas fleet.

Qantas said the jet had not had any other engine problems.

The mid-air drama came as Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce was grilled by senators over his handling of the airline's industrial dispute, which has at its heart the safety and maintenance of Qantas planes.

SOURCE

2011-10-23T10:47:00.002+10:00

Jetstar credit card blues

A recent online dalliance with Jetstar got off to a promising start. Looking to book two adults and two kids on a Sydney-Avalon return flight, it was pleasing to see they had fixed the issue of baggage selection. Previously, it was one-in, all-in for checked baggage. Now, you can deselect baggage from passengers. Second, it looked like we would need to buy the $17 a person "optional value bundle" to ensure we all sat together. A 15-minute call to the helpline (14 minutes waiting, 60 seconds talking) allayed that fear - families automatically get seated together.

Inevitably, it couldn't all go the customer's way, however. Working our way to the final page of the booking (payment), when you're about to hit the process payment key, a line appears stating you'll be charged $60 for the privilege of paying by credit card.

An extra 8 per cent on top of the fares.

I appreciate that customers have the direct-debit option online but it really is taking the mickey when the majority pay this way for all online purchases (and no, I don't want to sign up for a Jetstar credit card).

- Daniel Happell

Source

2011-10-21T14:09:00.001+10:00

More trouble midair for Qantas

Some Qantas passengers are angry after a plane with 115 passengers heading to Alice Springs returned to Darwin due to a mid-air malfunction.

Passengers on flight QF1935 who spoke to AAP described a grinding noise and the sound of rushing air about 10 minutes after take-off, before an announcement that there was a problem with the cargo door.

The flight, which left Darwin at 7.25am (CST), turned around and circled the airport for about an hour to burn off enough fuel to land safely.

Chirag Patel from Alice Springs said he never wanted to fly with Qantas again, but had little choice as he was already booked in to fly to Mumbai with the airline on Saturday. "I do not like to fly with Qantas, the safest airline in the world once upon a time," he said at Darwin Airport.

Another man who did not wish to be named described what happened as a "debacle". "I wouldn't mind asking why CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority) shut down Tiger (Airways) but Qantas is having incident after incident and they are still flying," he said.

Several Northern Territory politicians who were heading home after state parliament finished sitting for the week were also on board.

Robyn Lambley from the Country Liberal Party said she heard a strange sound soon after take-off. "It sounded like a faulty engine almost, and I looked across and said `this doesn't sound good'," she said. "Soon after that the pilot came on the speaker and said there was a problem with the door to the luggage container."

She said one passenger had what appeared to be a panic attack and paramedics came on board after they landed and give them oxygen. Ms Lambley praised the work of Qantas staff who she said were reassuring during the incident.

The plane was met by fire authorities when it landed as a precaution.

Tourist David Williamson said he was disappointed that something as important as a cargo door fault had apparently slipped through maintenance checks.

Another man seemed more concerned with his thirst as he waited for Qantas to find a replacement plane. He berated Qantas staff because an airport bar had not been opened early while the passengers were waiting. "A man's not a bloody camel," he was overheard telling one staff member.

A Qantas spokeswoman said a hydraulic fault caused the incident. "There is no safety risk whatsoever ... it is a mechanical issue," she said.

Recently Qantas announced a cut in flight numbers because union action was causing a backlog in the maintenance of its fleet.

The airline said the problem with its plane that turned around was unrelated to the industrial action.

SOURCE

2011-10-20T10:43:00.001+10:00

Qantas flight forced down on Lord Howe Island after engine failure

A QANTAS plane has made an emergency landing on Lord Howe Island following engine failure, an airline spokeswoman says.

The Qantas spokeswoman said flight QF2260 from Sydney to Lord Howe Island experienced an "oil pressure issue'' with one of its engines. "The engine was shut down in line with standard operating procedure and the aircraft landed at Lord Howe Island without incident a short time later.''

There were 23 passengers on the plane at the time, Qantas said.

Engineers were being flown to Lord Howe Island, in the Tasman Sea, to assess the aircraft, she said. There were no injuries and passengers had disembarked she said.

A spokeswoman for the Lord Howe Island Board said passengers had checked into hotels and resorts across the island.

SOURCE

2011-10-17T11:27:00.001+10:00

Mother furious after Qantas loses unaccompanied son in Hobart Airport

QANTAS has fessed up to losing track of an unaccompanied 11-year-old boy and even misplacing the paperwork involving his flight to Hobart.

Fairfax Media says when the boy arrived at Hobart Airport on his own late at night on September 28 he was forced to wander around on his own looking for his mother.

Qantas says the incident happened during a particularly busy night when the arrivals hall of Hobart Airport was in turmoil because storms in Melbourne had caused flight delays, passenger disruption and lost baggage.

The boy, who had been dropped off at Melbourne Airport by his uncle and passed into the care of Qantas cabin crew, told his mother, Leanne Decleva, that he didn't know why he was on his own after landing in Hobart. "Anyone could have come along and just creamed him up in a couple of seconds," said Ms Decleva, a child protection worker.

She marched him back to the Qantas counter to find out what had happened and was told they had no paperwork to sign for his collection and did not know who was authorised to pick him up.

"I've shown my licence as ID and they just (said) take him," Ms Decleva said. "But there could have been a custody battle in train and I may have been prevented from having any contact with him. "Working in child protection, I know all this stuff, because it happens all the time."

She has declined the airline's offer of a $1000 travel voucher and is considering her legal options.

SOURCE

2011-10-17T11:02:00.001+10:00

A Sydney-bound Qantas flight has turned back to Bangkok with engine problems

A SYDNEY-bound Qantas flight has been forced to turn back to Bangkok with engine problems after a bang on board the plane, the airline says.

The Boeing 747 turned back one hour into the Bangkok-Sydney Q52 flight about 9.30pm (AEDT) yesterday after there was a bang and the plane vibrated, a Qantas spokesman told AAP. "About one hour after take-off, there was a bang and some vibrations were felt through the aircraft," he said. The pilot turned off one of the four engines as a safety precaution and the plane, carrying 356 passengers, landed safely back at Bangkok airport at 10.47pm (AEDT).

No emergency landing was required and all passengers were being accommodated on other services, the spokesman said.

One passenger reported seeing sparks shooting out of the engine, Macquarie Radio reported. "There was some white sparks shooting out of the engine and then they informed us of what was going on, that the engine had been shut down and we were returning to Bangkok," a passenger known only as David said.

It comes as an estimated 60,000 Qantas passengers have been affected by a series of rolling strikes by engineers and ground crews. The airline last week cancelled 400 domestic flights over the next month, blaming the disruptions on engineers' strikes.

SOURCE

2011-10-06T11:25:00.001+10:00

Here we go again

There has been a bit of a lull in these incidents so I was hoping Qantas had got their act together

A QANTAS plane enroute to Perth was forced into an emergency landing in Newman after engine problems today. Passengers reported hearing a loud bang after an engine stalled on the flight from Newman to Perth about five minutes into the journey. The plane was carrying 75 passengers and five crew members.

A Qantas spokesperson said the plane was turned back because of an “adverse engine indicator for the aircraft’s right engine”.

One passenger told Nine News he was sitting at the back of the plane and heard a “bang” noise about five minutes into the flight. “They didn’t tell us [for] ages, they said we’ll turn it back for … an emergency landing,” he said.

Another passenger flying to Perth for a holiday also said she heard a loud bang. “The plane went like dead silent for about three minutes, and we hadn’t been told anything,” she said. “We were just sitting there and then the lights down the middle started going on and off. “We were just left there not knowing what was happening.”

A Perth man on the plane said the plane “dropped” mid-air after the loud noise. He said they eventually got to Perth three hours after returning to Newman.

Passenger Jeff Worthington told Nine News the scariest part of the flight was the landing. “It hit the ground that hard, and then it was just all over the runway,” he said.

SOURCE

2011-09-30T12:38:00.001+10:00

More claims Jetstar is exploiting staff

A former cabin attendant with Qantas's budget carrier Jetstar Airlines says flight safety is being endangered by some crew being forced to work extremely long shifts.

Former Jetstar employee Dallas Finn said he quit his job after two months because of concerns about safety and fatigue.

"I told them they had safety issues with the airline and it should be addressed," Mr Finn told ABC TV yesterday.

Based in Darwin, Mr Finn become a Jetstar flight attendant in June but quit two months later. He said he had filed an incident report about fatigue after flying five return international flights in five days, which had affected his sleep "drastically".

"The Ho Chi Minh flight is between a 12 and 13-hour day," he said. "They would actually change the pilots over in Ho Chi Minh but the cabin crew would have to fly back."

Mr Finn said his safety concerns arose after a pre-flight briefing at which the Singapore-based crew were unable to answer the emergency procedure and the medical question.

"It was the first time I've actually been scared of flying because if something went down I didn't actually know if that crew would be able to back me up," he said.

Jetstar said it investigated concerns about the skills of a crew member on a Melbourne-to-Darwin flight on July 17. "It was determined that the crew member satisfied proficiency requirements," the airline said in a statement.

The contract for Jetstar's Singapore-based flight attendants states that crew could work shifts for up to 20 hours but staff could be forced beyond that limit without consultation, the ABC said.

The supplier of cabin crew for Jetstar out of Singapore was Valuair, of which Qantas owned a 49 per cent share through Jetstar Asia.

A Singapore-based Jetstar cabin attendant said they had to accede to management's requests, even if they exceeded the conditions of their work contracts.

"If we complain about fatigue or long hours or bad flight rosters, the management's reply is, 'You signed a legal contract, so you have to do whatever that is'," the attendant told ABC TV.

But Jetstar said the airline did not roster 20-hour shifts. "The longest rostered shift is 15 hours and 20 minutes," it said. The carrier said the average rostered international cabin crew shift was about 10 to 11 hours.

Source

2011-09-26T12:16:00.001+10:00

Left without a crutch

As someone with a permanent disability, the treatment I received from Qantas security officers at Brisbane Airport recently was shocking. After passing though security, my crutch was taken from me and no other aid was made available. I was told to lean against a post because security needed to screen the crutch again. I had to stand unaided for a screening of my body, despite the fact I had told two of the officers I had a broken femur and a hip replacement.

- Rosemary Ross

SOURCE

2011-08-20T20:50:00.000+10:00

Fast downgrade, slow refund

My loyalty to Qantas has waned in the past few years because of indifferent customer service but the piece de resistance was waiting more than two months for a refund after a Qantas flight downgrade that was made to accommodate its staff on a flight from Sydney to Auckland.

This downgrade was advised only as we drove to the airport but we were assured a refund would be processed quickly. If we can book flights online and have credit cards debited instantly, why does it take so long to receive a refund?

- Mary Maloney

Source

2011-08-15T12:03:00.001+10:00

Qantas pilots told not to make up lost time

Who cares about passenger convenience?

PILOTS are being ordered to stop trying to make up time on Qantas flights running significantly late - so the airline can save on fuel costs.

In a snub for passengers, the airline has a strict policy of refusing to allow pilots to catch up if they can't land in the 15-minute window that qualifies as being on time. "If the aircraft is running late and the pilot can't make it there within 15 minutes of the scheduled arrival time then he or she is not permitted to fly faster and burn more fuel," one pilot said. "It would seem that the underlying assumption is that once a passenger is more than 15 minutes late, they may as well be an hour late."

Traditionally, if a flight is running an hour late a pilot could fly faster to minimise the delay. However, late pilots are allowed to fly faster provided they are capable of landing within 15 minutes of the scheduled arrival time. That would count as an on-time arrival - although Qantas denies this is the reason for the policy.

Australian International Pilots Association vice-president Captain Richard Woodward confirmed the policy. "Pilots are capable of making up time in the air if needs be, but they obviously need to burn more fuel to achieve that," he said.

"The policy states that if you can't land the aircraft within 15 minutes of the scheduled arrival time, you're not allowed to try. So even if a pilot can improve the ETA from an hour late to 20 minutes late, they're not permitted to attempt it."

Qantas confirmed fuel - which cost the airline more than $4 billion a year - was a major factor in deciding whether or not to make up time. "Fuel burn increases exponentially when the aircraft goes faster so in trying to make up just a few minutes, planes can burn through thousands of litres of jet fuel," a spokesman said.

"Airlines around the world are already charging passengers fuel surcharges and higher airfares because of high jet fuel prices and burning more and more fuel puts further pressure on airfares."

Under Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics benchmarks, which Qantas and other airlines use to measure their performance, flight arrival is counted as "on time" if the plane arrives at the gate within 15 minutes of the scheduled time.

Qantas said the policy had nothing to do with boosting its on-time running figures and was all about fuel costs.

SOURCE

2011-08-14T10:39:00.001+10:00

Multiple bungles by Jetstar see bride miss her wedding

IT IS customary for brides to run late to their weddings but one couple missed theirs entirely yesterday after a series of mishaps on their Jetstar flight.

The couple, who were flying to Bali with some of their guests, were due to leave Melbourne at 6.30pm on Friday, before their nuptials at midday yesterday. The bride, who wished to remain anonymous, was even wearing a white swimsuit in anticipation of the balmy weather, according to a fellow passenger.

The first sign that things were amiss came on Friday afternoon, when the airline texted passengers that flight JQ35 would be delayed.

When passengers seated in the business lounge made inquiries, they were told the pilot was sick and flying in a replacement would result in a two-hour delay.

Vivienne Golabek, 54, who was travelling with her husband, Danny, said: "At 8pm we finally got a call saying that we were boarding. As we were sitting on the flight there was an announcement about the substitute pilot that we were getting from Sydney to say that his luggage was lost and in his luggage was his passport."

Some time after 8.30pm, the passengers were told to disembark, given meal vouchers and told to return at 9.50pm. But when the passengers arrived at the gate, there were no staff. After 20 minutes, some staff arrived and at 10.30pm, four federal police officers were on the scene. "They were probably worried in case someone caused a scene," Mrs Golabek said.

A quiet voice then came over the intercom to say the flight would be cancelled due to road works on the tarmac at Denpasar Airport.

Passengers who lived more than 100 kilometres from the airport were given hotel vouchers, but others, including the Golabeks, had to fend for themselves.

Mrs Golabek, of Melbourne, had no connection to the wedding couple but said the bride was "very, very quiet, very subdued and very emotional. Her partner is also very quiet. "There are a lot of people with young children who would not have got to their hotels before 12.30am. There was a total lack of communication and everyone feels they were lied to and some hope Jetstar goes under."

The flight left Melbourne at 9.30am yesterday. Passengers were offered a $100 Jetstar voucher in a letter which apologised for "unforseen mechanical issues".

A Jetstar spokesman said: "There might have been some confused messages in what was a complicated situation. The captain was sick and the replacement from Sydney had to fly to Melbourne and realised his passport had been misplaced.

"There was a delay getting the passport by which stage there was work going on at the airport. We are sorry for the inconvenience and sympathise with everyone on the flight."

SOURCE

2011-08-02T12:11:00.000+10:00

Another joyous Qantas flight -- or two

I TELL you what makes my blood boil - it's when the engine explodes after take-off.

There you are on the trip of a lifetime to Europe, in business class (thanks to frequent flyer points), although actually securing a business-class seat with points is a heckle all of its own. So having beaten that challenge, it was with a sense of smug satisfaction that I reclined my seat, a gin and tonic in hand, as we took off from Bangkok for the final leg to London.

The explosion that rocked the plane was followed by a deathly silence.

I'm not a nervous flyer, but I became a little worried at that point. The captain announced that we had "engine trouble". (A distinct advantage of business class is you can't actually see the fireball and flames). We then had to fly to a zone to dump all the fuel before landing. This takes an hour. The captain assured us he had done this before on a simulator. He also assured us the emergency services vehicles we would see along the runway were standard procedure. Of course they were.

Once landed, we had to wait a further hour and a half on the runway while Qantas negotiated immigration for a plane full of passengers. But don't expect this to make any difference. The official asked what my intended address was in Thailand, and, as I looked at him blankly, would not allow me in.

The airport was empty save for a straggly queue of weary refugees, all with no address. So, none of us were allowed through.

Eventually, some official waived the condition and we collected our bags and were shipped off to a hotel arriving, exhausted, just before dawn.

No new aeroplane was flown in. Instead we were bumped onto other flights. We were kindly offered a flight to Tokyo. I pointed out that we were actually hoping to go to London.

Eventually, we agreed to go economy so as to arrive in less than three days.

No air miles were refunded. No concessions were made. All dreams of business-class luxury, sleep and gin and tonics receded. Connecting flights were missed. The trip of a lifetime was fast becoming a nightmare.

But not to worry, we had a lovely long holiday before we had to contemplate the flight home.

Except you won't believe what happened on the way home. The plane broke down, in Hong Kong this time. Another trip back and forth through immigration. Another night in a hotel. Another great experience with the "Spirit of Australia".

SOURCE

2011-07-29T10:46:00.001+10:00

Will Qantas EVER get ahead of its maintenance requirements?

Qantas flight to Melbourne grounded in Hong Kong after 'safety issues'

QANTAS passengers have been left stranded in Hong Kong after a safety glitch forced the grounding of an international flight. The flight, which originated in London, was due to depart Hong Kong for Melbourne last night when the pilot informed passengers of “safety issues”, a passenger said. The passengers were told to disembark and wait in the airport for more information.

One man claimed Qantas staff said there was no accommodation available. "They told us to grab a blanket and sleep on the floor," he said.

Meanwhile, more than 300 Qantas warehouse workers will walk off the job today in a dispute about job security and wages. Workers in Victoria, NSW, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia plan to stop work for 24 hours, the Herald Sun reported.

SOURCE

2011-07-16T09:59:00.000+10:00

Useless !@#$%^^&* airline

Qantas engine failure sends rugby's Springboks back home

A QANTAS aircraft carrying the South African rugby team to Sydney was forced to return to Johannesburg because of an overheating engine. The pilot shut it down after it had experienced an increase in vibration and temperature.

The incident happened about an hour into the flight, with the Boeing 747 landing in Johannesburg two hours after the initial take-off.

"The aircraft has four engines and can safely fly on three engines," a Qantas spokesman said. "There was no issue with safety and media reports that there was an explosion are incorrect."

The Springboks were meant to have landed in Sydney, aboard flight QF64, shortly after 2pm (AEST) today but they are now staying at a hotel in Johannesburg as Qantas decides whether to put them on a new aircraft. "We are currently looking at options to get the aircraft back in the air as soon as possible," the spokesman said.

Springboks captain John Smit described the experience on social networking site Twitter. "Wow, just had to do an emergency landing at OR Tambo," he tweeted. "We lost an engine after take-off but safely landed now!"

The world champion Springboks, who are due to play Australia in their opening match of the Tri Nations in Sydney on July 23, are unlikely to depart for Australia before Saturday, the South African Rugby Union said in a statement.

Qantas is a sponsor of the Australian rugby union team, the Wallabies.

SOURCE

2011-07-10T12:28:00.001+10:00

Jetstar plane checks 'under investigation' - Civil Aviation Safety Authority

AUSTRALIA'S aviation regulator said it had launched a review of maintenance at budget airline Jetstar, a Qantas offshoot, in the wake of another low-cost carrier being grounded.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) said it was examining databases and conducting checks at Jetstar after a records mix-up resulted in some planes missing routine inspections.

The announcement follows the grounding of fellow budget airline Tiger Airways Australia until at least August 1 due to "serious and imminent" safety risks -- the first such ban of an entire carrier in Australian history.

Jetstar said it took four of its Airbus A320 jets out of service on Thursday for overdue works including "testing of batteries of emergency lights on board the aircraft, sampling of hydraulic fluid and the lubrication of door switches."

"We have robust safety and maintenance procedures in place. This is what helped us to identify some routine maintenance tasks (that needed completion) within specific time limits," a company spokesman told AFP. The planes were serviced overnight and back in operation by Friday. There were "no safety implications." "It should also be noted CASA did not order the grounding of any Jetstar aircraft," the spokesman added.

The CASA said Jetstar had immediately reported the issue and a review had been launched. "We've had a detailed briefing from them on what happened and what they've done since. We certainly don't believe there were any immediate or serious safety issues," said Peter Gibson, a spokesman for the regulator.

"But we are reviewing what Jetstar have done and we will be looking carefully at their maintenance systems, particularly their maintenance control systems, to ensure that they are robust and are operating as we would expect."

Mr Gibson said the missed inspections and procedures were "all lower-level issues" and denied there was cause for concern about safety across the budget flight industry. "I don't think anybody's jumping to that conclusion," he said. "The same safety standards apply whether you're a full-cost carrier or a low-cost carrier, we do the same types of audits, we do the same types of surveillance. "Where airlines seek to lower costs and to deliver cheaper fares the one thing they can't do is cut corners on safety."

Mr Gibson would not be drawn on whether Jetstar was facing penalties over the incident, saying only that CASA would take "any appropriate action if it's required".

Tiger, an Australian offshoot of the Singapore brand of the same name, has vowed to take all necessary steps to return to the skies and says it has a bright future, despite losing $2 million every week it is grounded.

SOURCE

2011-07-10T12:02:00.001+10:00

Good ol' reliable Qantas

Absent when you need them

AUSTRALIA'S hope to claim the Microsoft Imagine Cup was literally lost in transit today. Team UCEEG from Canberra was forced to show judges their headset which turns thoughts into words sans headset after Qantas lost it, along with a wheelchair it was supposed to control.

The missing pieces will not be returned to the team until tonight, meaning the students have had to present through the first round using a video demonstration.

“The demonstration didn’t turn out well”, said Paul Du, team leader. “We did the best we could, we’re hoping for the best. “Hopefully the judges were happy with our answers.“

The team’s original headset was customised to suit their needs. Using a new one didn’t work out quite as well. “It stopped working for a while, but after the presentation is started working again,” Quang Du said.

The team still managed to converse with their mentor, Dat Tran, on MSN messenger using the improvised headset and Brain Speller software.

Thankfully the team had recorded a video demonstration to show the Brain Speller in action, and hope this will be enough to get them through to the next round.

SOURCE

2011-07-09T10:43:00.001+10:00

Jetstar admits to safety oversights

They were doing only half of the required routine maintenance! That could explain a lot

QANTAS'S no-frills subsidiary, Jetstar, has come under the scrutiny of the aviation safety regulator over aircraft maintenance, adding to the sense of crisis in Australian aviation after the grounding of Tiger Airways.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority will check the rigour of Jetstar's maintenance systems and processes, after finding out planes were not fully serviced to schedule. Jetstar hurriedly pulled four Airbus A320s from service on Thursday night to attend to overlooked and overdue maintenance.

Yesterday Jetstar admitted to an "administrative issue" with its aircraft servicing. It had informed the safety regulator of its mistakes. "We have robust safety procedures in place and as part of this identified some routine maintenance tasks that should have been completed within specific time limits," a spokeswoman, Andrea Wait, said. "As soon as the administrative issue was identified it was rectified and none of the tasks were safety significant [sic]. "There was no risk to the safety of the aircraft."

The belated service items included testing emergency light batteries, sampling hydraulic fluid and lubrication of door switches, she said.

Separately, the Herald has been reliably told that there is one Jetstar Airbus on the tarmac in Christchurch that will be tested for volcanic ash contamination after a white powdery substance was found on leading edges of engine compressor fan blades.

On the maintenance front, the Herald has been told Jetstar's computer tracks aircraft components in two distinct ways: components that need servicing by flying hours, and those that need servicing by date intervals. But airline staff only realised late on Thursday afternoon that they had only been looking at the service items by flying hours, and had overlooked those by date intervals. It is not known how long this had gone on.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority will now examine Jetstar's system. "We will look carefully at what they've done and to make sure their systems are robust and operating correctly," a spokesman for the authority, Peter Gibson, said.

The vice-president of the Australian and International Pilots Association, Richard Woodward, said he hoped the lapse was "not a genuine oversight regarding engineering of an aeroplane". "We cannot afford that - the risk is too high," he said.

SOURCE

2011-07-07T09:42:00.002+10:00

Jetstar bans disabled child's stroller from cabin

They do so much of this sort of thing that one suspects they have a deliberate policy of discouraging the ill and disabled from travelling with them

JETSTAR has come under fire for refusing to allow a disabled two-year-old's stroller to be taken on a flight. Trudi Scott was shocked when she was told that at the gate that her son Theo’s stroller could not be carried on a New Zealand flight as there was no room, despite having explained his disability.

Theo has Down syndrome and suffers from a rare condition that can lead to renal failure.

Mrs Scott said staff promised it would be waiting for them at the gate when they got off their flight in Auckland. However the family was appalled to see a crew member carry a large bag with a musical instrument inside onto the plane and store it underneath one of the back seats.

Things only got worse for the family, with the stroller damaged in transit. On their return flight they were also banned from taking the stroller on board despite the cabin being half-full.

Mrs Scott said the way the airline handled the situation was “terrible”. "It's almost like you're having to justify your son's disability to them," she said.

A Jetstar spokeswoman said the airline has apologised for the incident, has sent them four $50 vouchers and will pay for the stroller’s repair. The airline’s policy is to not allow strollers in the cabin of any A320 planes due to the number of people who arrive with them.

Source

2011-07-02T12:42:00.001+10:00

The "f*** you" airline again

In March, I waited patiently for 62 minutes for Jetstar to answer my phone call. Due to ill health, I wanted to cancel flight tickets. I was advised to obtain a medical certificate and fax itinerary details so a refund could be processed.

Three months and several faxes later, I have not even had an acknowledgment.

I had a wonderful career spanning 40 years with TAA and Qantas. Oh, for the good days of customer service, not faceless airlines with fax addresses on Mars. - Paul Smith

SOURCE

2011-06-29T11:59:00.001+10:00

Man urinates in plane aisle, let off with warning from Jetstar

Want to have someone piss on you? Fly Jetstar, the "F*** you" airline

JETSTAR have been criticised for being too lenient on an alleged drunk passenger who urinated on fellow travellers. The incident occurred six hours into a flight from Auckland to Singapore, when a male flyer is alleged to have relieved himself in the aisle. The spray is said to have soaked a man’s leg and a female passenger’s scarf.

Passengers said the man was seen mixing whiskey in a Burger King cup with a friend before the incident. "Everyone was yelling at him and he slowly became aware that he was being uncouth,” passenger Amos Chapple told nzherald.co.nz. “He pulled up ... and wobbled back to the other end of the plane." Mr Chapple said he was sitting next to a pool of urine for “a good five-and-a-half hours” after the incident.

However, the man is said to have only received a warning from Jetstar staff. Mr Chapple called Jetstar “slack” in the way they handled the situation and confronted the man in Singapore. "I told him that he had pissed everywhere and he looked quite shocked," Mr Chapple said.

JetStar told nzherald.co.nz the man received an official warning from the plane's captain, had his alcohol confiscated, and returned to his seat to sleep off the public incident. "We issued our final warning ... if you don't behave after the warning, then it becomes a matter for federal police," Jetstar spokeswoman Jennifer Timm said.

Jetstar was contacting the customers affected by the incident to arrange compensation.

SOURCE

2011-06-23T10:25:00.001+10:00

Qantas faces Ansett-style extinction

It was failure by management to take on unrealistic unions that brought Ansett down so it looks like Qantas may have learned from that

QANTAS faces Ansett-style extinction unless drastic changes are made to its international business, boss Alan Joyce says. In a stark warning that the airline would take a ruthless approach to overseas operations, Mr Joyce said Qantas could not succeed using its current model and must better use offshore connections and boost its Asian focus.

"Qantas International creates a product and service from an Australian cost base and sells into a global market against international competitors who operate off a far lower cost base," Mr Joyce said. "It is the same problem that has been faced by many other Australian companies in our globalised world. They too have had to change."

Qantas yesterday flagged a $500 million full-year underlying profit, including a payout from Rolls Royce, worth $95 million in settlement over engine problems last November that grounded its A380 fleet.

ACTU secretary Jeff Lawrence said Qantas must remain loyal to its Australian workers as it makes changes to international operations. "Mr Joyce cannot seriously say Qantas proudly calls Australia home at the same time as he speculates about moving the company offshore," Mr Lawrence said. "At the same time, the financial reality he describes to the stock exchange is that of one of the world's most profitable airlines."

Despite enjoying domestic success, the international business arm of Qantas forecasts a $200 million loss.

Mr Joyce said he would unveil plans for changing the company's international operations on August 24. He was committed to growing the number of planes bearing a flying kangaroo that operate to and from Australia. But partnerships with airlines such as British Airways, and forays into Asia, would increase. "We believe that we can leverage joint ventures a lot more than we do today," he said.

Mr Joyce also weighed into the carbon tax debate, signalling new cost pressures would have flow-on effects. He said emissions trading schemes beginning in Europe would result in ticket price increases. "The profitability of these operations is not such that the airlines can digest these costs, so they will be passed on to the consumers," Mr Joyce said. He said protection of the tourism industry was needed under any Australian carbon tax.

SOURCE

2011-06-22T12:22:00.001+10:00

Overseas repairer of Qantas planes 'has problems'

A repair station in the Philippines that does major maintenance work for Qantas, among other international airlines, has shown a pattern of stubborn problems, American inspections have found.

The safety experts say the pattern underscores concerns about the airline industry's outsourcing of maintenance to facilities in developing countries.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspections of Lufthansa Technik Philippines in Manila said the facility had repeated difficulties in following US regulations on matters ranging from record-keeping to calibrating tools used to make repairs.

The records, which cover inspections from 2008 through to last month, also cite recurring problems with training workers to FAA standards and unfamiliarity by in-house inspectors at Lufthansa Technik, a subsidiary of Lufthansa Airlines, with US regulations.

Lufthansa Technik's "quality assurance department demonstrated an inability to effectively audit the repair station for compliance with all aspects of (US regulations), specifically, appropriate facilities, tools/equipment, personnel and training requirements", according to an inspection in May.

A 2009 inspection noted that two in-house inspectors were unfamiliar with FAA aircraft maintenance regulations. The inspectors had recently received four hours of training in the regulations but weren't tested for their knowledge afterward, it said.

The same inspection noted that "throughout the repair station numerous personnel were not aware of which airline they are providing maintenance for" and which country's regulations applied.

The reports show problems scattered throughout the facility rather than in one department, which indicates the problems are systemic, said John Goglia, a former National Transportation Safety Board member and an expert on aircraft maintenance. The result, he said, is an erosion of the margin of safety.

"As they expand into Third World countries to take advantage of the labour rates and lower costs these problems keep coming back because you just don't have the people infrastructure," Goglia said.

"How many trained people do you think there are the Philippines, in Malaysia and in Indonesia? They are expanding a big operation with a relatively thin technical workforce."

The Manila facility employs 2,800 aircraft mechanics and other employees. It's certified by the FAA and aviation authorities from 20 nations to perform maintenance work ranging from routine repairs to major overhauls, according to Lufthansa Technik.

The company recently began construction of a new hangar so that Airbus A380s - the world's largest airliner capable of seating up to 853 passengers - can be serviced at the facility.

The records were obtained from the FAA through a Freedom of Information Act request by a labour union, Unite Here, which represents employees of Lufthansa's catering subsidiary in North America, SkyChef. The union and the airline are in contract negotiations.

"None of the mentioned FAA audit findings had significant impact on safety and reliability of aircraft and components," Lufthansa Technik said in a statement.

"Each finding has been treated as an opportunity to enhance the existing system, as it is an industry standard to deal with findings from internal and external audits," the statement said. "Corrective actions have always been implemented and accepted by the FAA."

However, the report on last month's inspection said numerous problems cited in an August 2010 inspection still had not been corrected. "An acceptable corrective plan has been submitted, but due to recent failures, an on-site follow-up inspection ... is required," it said.

Bill Voss, president of the Flight Safety Foundation, an industry-supported group that promotes aviation safety worldwide, said the inspections indicate Lufthansa Technik Philippines has a problem with quality control, but he cautioned against making more general judgments about offshore aircraft repair stations.

"It's a huge leap to suggest this is representative of all foreign repair stations," Voss said. "I'm not sure offshore equals bad."

The FAA said in a statement that it holds foreign repair facilities to the same standards as US facilities. Repair facilities that don't meet those standards can lose their certification. The FAA has certified Lufthansa Technik Philippines for repairs since 2000.

The Transportation Department Office of Inspector General announced in December it has launched an investigation of the FAA's oversight of maintenance performed for US passenger airlines by outside contractors, including oversight of overseas repair stations.

Lufthansa, one of the world's largest airlines, owns 51 per cent of Lufthansa Technik Philippines, while the Philippine MacroAsia Corp owns 49 per cent.

The only US carrier that sends planes to Lufthansa Technik Philippines for major maintenance work is Hawaiian Airlines, which flies to destinations in the Western United States, the Pacific and Asia.

Lufthansa, Swiss Air, Qantas, LAN, Philippine Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Vietnam Airlines, Gulf Air, Kuwait Airways and Jet Airways are among some of the other airlines that use the facility for major work.

SOURCE

2011-06-12T10:21:00.001+10:00

That good ol' Jetstar charm again

LES Turner was looking forward to a nice trip when be boarded a Jetstar flight to Singapore. Instead, the 86-year-old man died of a mid-air heart attack in the plane's toilet on the return journey to Darwin.

And a fellow passenger who worked frantically to save him was confronted with an attempt by the budget airline to double-charge her for a new flight when she tried to resume her journey.

Parliament has heard evidence "communications difficulties" were encountered when the nurse tried to raise the alarm with the foreign crew about Mr Turner's plight in the toilets.

But Jetstar maintains it is standard practice to ask if medical staff are on board to assist in emergencies and that the pilot was alerted and an ambulance on placed standby at the airport.

When the Sunday Herald Sun contacted him, Mr Turner's stepson, Terry Stanley, was appalled. "All I knew was that he had passed away in the toilet, and they didn't give any details other than that," Mr Stanley said. "If he was visibly in some sort of distress going into the toilet and the cabin crew were made aware of that, but failed to follow through with it, that just isn't good enough."

When told the passenger who had stepped in to assist had been asked to pay for another ticket after she sought medical assistance in Darwin for a bleeding nose and bloodshot eyes after performing CPR on his stepdad, Mr Stanley said: "It's pretty shabby."

Jetstar apologised over the attempt to double charge the nurse who tried to save Mr Turner's life. "An error was made in regards to her travel arrangements for the following day, which Jetstar sincerely apologises for," an airline spokesman said.

Jetstar also said: "All Jetstar cabin crew are competent in first aid. Cabin crew assisted the nurse in the delivery of oxygen to the passenger under her direction."

SOURCE

2011-06-04T10:49:00.001+10:00

Wheel problems force Brisbane-bound Qantas jumbo to return to Singapore

A QANTAS jumbo carrying more than 340 passengers was forced to return to Singapore after its wheels refused to retract early this morning.

An airline spokeswoman confirmed flight QF52, which had been scheduled to land in Brisbane at 6.30am today was forced to return to Changi airport 48 minutes after take-off. She said passengers had been briefed on the mishap aboard the Boeing 747-400 jumbo and were put up at hotels overnight.

No one was injured in the incident and the plane has been checked over and the faulty part replaced, ready to take off at noon local time (2pm Brisbane) today. It was expected to arrive in Brisbane at 9pm with the 344 passengers from its first attempt.

It is the latest in a string of incidents for the airline, with a series of mid air alerts early in the year. In January, engine troubles forced a Qantas flight to land in Bangkok, hours after another plane flying from Adelaide to Melbourne plummeted 8000m during an emergency descent.

That same month, a trans-Pacific flight was forced to divert to Fiji for repairs due to an engine problem while another Qantas flight to Los Angeles had an engine failure as it was preparing to take off at Sydney airport.

Most dramatically, in November, one of the four Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines on an Airbus A380 exploded mid-air soon after take-off from Singapore, prompting Qantas to ground its entire A380 fleet.

The day after the A380 accident occurred, a Qantas 747-400 had a mid-air incident, with flames bursting from an engine just after take-off from Singapore.

The airline has also faced threats of strikes by long-haul pilots and aircraft engineers.

SOURCE

2011-06-02T10:37:00.001+10:00

Fury over Qantas check-in changes

ANGRY Qantas passengers have been caught out by new domestic baggage charges that mean travellers could pay up to $60 a suitcase to check in additional luggage.

Under the change, which began yesterday, passengers must pay between $15 and $60 to check in extra bags as the airline switches from a weight-based penalty system to one based on the number of bags, The Australian reported.

The first bag remains free for all Qantas mainline domestic passengers and some frequent travellers can also get additional luggage through with no extra charge.

But most economy travellers wanting to check in two pieces of luggage must either prepay $15 online for the second bag or fork out $30 at the airport.

Third and subsequent bags cost $60 each and passengers will have to pay a $20 "heavy" fee if the weight is between 23kg and 32kg.

Julia Wylie, 24, a musician from Sydney, said she was disappointed after being charged an extra $30 to check in her guitar, and dumbfounded when Qantas staff told her the onus was on her to find out about the extra fees.

"I can't believe they made me cough up an extra $30 because of my guitar even though my other bag was way under the 23kg weight limit," she said. "I usually fly with Qantas because they don't usually charge me for the guitar, but I won't be anymore."

Qantas said that the baggage changes had been announced last October and were communicated through information posted on qantas.com, via frequent flyer emails and newsletters and on ticket itineraries.

Choice spokesman Christopher Zinn said yesterday's problems raised issues about how the changes were communicated and what sort of latitude people should be given when a new system was introduced.

SOURCE

2011-06-02T10:20:00.001+10:00

Baby rats ground Qantas plane

A Qantas plane has been grounded after five baby rats were discovered inside medical equipment on board. The rats were found on the Boeing 767 during a pre-flight safety check at Sydney Airport on Tuesday. They were inside a defibrillator. There were no passengers on board at the time.

A Qantas spokeswoman says the aircraft, including its wiring, has been thoroughly checked and the plane will return to service today. No other evidence of rats was found during the check, including the baby rats' mother.

Scott Connolly from the Transport Workers Union says the discovery is not ususual, despite the company's assertions. "Our members working out there report that they've increasingly reported concerns about hygiene, sanitation and this isn't the first occasion that they've reported rodents on aircraft and around their workspace," Mr Connolly said.

SOURCE

2011-05-24T08:19:00.001+10:00

Passengers stuck on north Queensland Qantas flight for more than six hours

QANTAS passengers from Brisbane endured a nightmare six hours stuck on board a flight to Mackay on Monday and ended up in Townsville. What should have been a 1 hour and 35 minute trip turned into a lengthy ordeal after weather prevented the plane from landing twice in Mackay and a technical fault halted a third take-off.

The more than 100 passengers were forced to remain on board the Alliance plane for the entire journey on Monday and were not offered any additional food.

Between boarding at 2pm in Brisbane and disembarking in Townsville at almost 9pm, passengers were given only a muffin in the first hour of the journey and offered water and juice at 8pm.

The flight - QF2516 - was supposed to take off at 2.10pm from Brisbane and land in Gladstone 1 hour and 35 minutes later. However, the flight touched down in Townsville about 5.30pm and then again at 7.20pm after two failed attempts to land. The plane was to make a third attempt to get to Mackay at 8pm but the take off was aborted due to a technical fault.

"At this stage I don't think we'll be going anywhere," the pilot told irate passengers.

A Qantas spokeswoman said low cloud cover over Mackay had prevented the flight from landing.

She said it was an "unusual situation" and said passengers had not been offered any more food because the flight had not been re-catered on either of its two refuelling stops in Townsville.

Angry Qantas passengers were offered accommodation.

SOURCE

2011-05-23T13:11:00.001+10:00

Qantas plane diverts to Noumea "because of fog" at Brisbane

Even though Brisbane airport remained open! A weak excuse for an inadequate fuel load, it would seem

HEAVY and persistent fog over Brisbane has forced a Qantas flight from Los Angeles to divert to Noumea as a "fuel conservation measure".

A spokesman said after a long-haul flight it was “not ideal to be circling indefinitely” waiting for the fog to lift. He said the flight would leave Noumea about 9am and arrive into Brisbane at 10.15am.

Bureau of Meteorology Senior Forecaster Brett Harrison said the fog started forming about 3am today, gradually becoming denser. He said the fog should start clearing about 7.30am and would be gone by about 8.30am.

A Brisbane Airport Corporation spokeswoman said the fog had not affected the ability for planes to take off and land. “The fog is down the southern end, so at the moment we’re ok and there have been no diversions due to the fog,” she said. “But we are monitoring it really closely in case it shifts.”

Last week Qantas came under fire for allegedly pressuring pilots to cut costs by taking on less fuel. The strategy was blamed for two diversions of Qantas flights because of low fuel.

Qantas has emphatically denied pressuring pilots to carry less fuel but it has admitted to encouraging pilots to monitor how much fuel they put on board their aircraft. The airline has imposed a series of increases in fuel surcharges this year as a result of soaring world oil prices.

More HERE

2011-05-20T10:14:00.001+10:00

Engine problems force Qantas plane to turn back to Bangkok

A QANTAS jet heading out of Bangkok was forced to turn around following take-off last night after the pilot discovered problems with the engine. A Qantas spokesman confirmed this morning there had been "an issue with the engine" overnight.

The Boeing 747 QF1 flight was heading to London from Bangkok when the pilot discovered a mechanical problem and turned the jet around. The pilot managed to land the plane, which was carrying 308 passengers, safely about 2.30pm local time.

"Shortly after take-off there was an increase in vibration and high temperatures from one of the four engines, so the pilots shut down this engine and as a precaution returned to Bangkok," the spokesman said. "The aircraft can safely fly on three engines and it had a normal landing in Bangkok not long afterwards. "We believe the cause is similar to events that other airlines are experiencing and is subject to an increased monitoring program from the manufacturer Rolls Royce."

Nobody was injured in the incident.

The problem is the second experienced by Qantas in as many weeks, with another flight forced to turn around earlier this month.

The airline also experienced similar problems in January when a Boeing 747 jet plunged 8000m during an emergency descent and hours later a Sydney-bound flight was forced to return to Bangkok because of one of the engines began consuming fuel more quickly then normal.

In January 2008 the airline and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau launched an investigation after QF2 from London lost power from all four of its generators on its descent into Bangkok. The 747 with 344 passengers on board lost electrical power about 15 minutes away from landing. At the time the ATSB said if the power failure occurred further away from an airport there could have been a serious accident.

SOURCE

2011-05-20T09:01:00.000+10:00

Dangerous practice - Qantas A380s carrying less fuel

What if the nearest available airport is in the middle of bad weather when fuel runs low? Landing in a storm is the recipe for a crash

QANTAS pilots flying the flagship Airbus A380 super jumbos are being pressured to carry less fuel on long-haul flights in a cost-cutting measure to reduce the airline's soaring fuel bills.

Company insiders have revealed a campaign - which includes charts ranking pilots based on fuel usage - that is increasing the risk of flights being diverted because they could not safely reach their destinations.

Two flights were forced to divert with fuel issues in the past week. A Melbourne-bound A380 was redirected to Adelaide on Tuesday after crew discovered it had burnt through too much fuel.

A flight from London to Singapore was forced to land in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday because it had inadequate spare fuel to circle Singapore while a storm cleared.

The airline yesterday denied the diversions were solely the result of planes not carrying enough fuel.

But documents obtained by The Daily Telegraph reveal that in the past two years the amount of "discretionary fuel" - carried on board flights to deal with emergencies, unforeseen bad weather and airport delays - has been almost halved.

The documents also show flights landing at Singapore and Melbourne - the two destinations to suffer diversions this week - on average landed with the least amount of remaining fuel of any Qantas A380 flights.

A pilot said yesterday the document, which ranks pilots based on how much fuel they take on board, was putting "subtle pressure" on crews. "The airline is trying to save money, knowing that a lot of our pilots will see it as a challenge and compete with each other," he said.

He said the reductions in discretionary fuel - which save the airline about $3000 on each flight - would lead to more delays due to weather or other unforeseen problems.

Adjunct senior lecturer at the UNSW School of Aviation Peter Marosszeky, who has almost 50 years experience in the sector, said that while the fuel policy had no impact on safety, it increased the chance of passengers being inconvenienced.

A Qantas spokesman confirmed the company was looking at ways to reduce fuel costs but denied it had any impact on services. "It is entirely appropriate that, within our carefully managed policies and procedures, pilots are encouraged to closely monitor discretionary fuel uplift," he said.

SOURCE

2011-05-17T09:44:00.001+10:00

Amazing! Qantas flight forced to divert to Adelaide after running low on fuel

A MELBOURNE-bound Qantas plane was forced to divert to Adelaide this morning after crew discovered it did not have enough fuel. A Qantas spokesman said the A380 from Singapore made the unexpected pit stop around 5am AEST.

He said the low fuel supply was not the result of a leak. "Engineers have inspected the aircraft on ground this morning in Adelaide and found there were no technical issues," the spokesman said.

"The flight crew found they had burnt through the fuel supplies quicker than expected. "It was not an emergency landing."

The jet carrying 249 passengers was expected to arrive in Melbourne about 7.30am.

SOURCE

2011-05-11T21:19:00.001+10:00

Qantas passengers tell of engine fire scare

A second Qantas passenger on QF5 from Sydney says he heard what sounded like an "explosion" before the plane rolled and "suddenly lost altitude".

Craig Scutella, a Sydney-based management executive, said he was relaxing in the premium economy section of the Singapore-bound Boeing 747 on Monday evening when he heard a "large noise". "[It] sounded like an explosion from the right hand side of the plane, the plane rolled a little, there was an [sic] noticeable increase in the air pressure on board, then the plane suddenly lost altitude," Mr Scutella said in an email.

Pierre Lord, who was also on board, said he saw an engine on the right wing ablaze with large flames about an hour and a half from Singapore, while the aircraft was flying over the ocean. Mr Lord said he was sitting at the back of the plane two seats from the window when flames "five or six metres long and about a metre in diameter" shot out of the engine for about two minutes before the fire was put out. "It looked like the back of a rocket, burning white and pink and blue, not little yellow flames," he said.

The captain told passengers, when the plane landed in Singapore, that an engine had failed, Mr Lord said. Mr Scutella said he heard the captain announce that the engine "misfired" and was restarted.

Qantas this morning denied that the engine failed and disputed the extent of the flames, but said an engine had to be shut down. "There was an increase in vibration from one of the four engines, so the pilots shut down this engine as a precaution and flew the plane safely to Singapore," the spokesman said. "The planes can safely fly on three engines and landed without incident around two hours later in Singapore.

"The passenger may have seen sparks and small flames for a short time in the exhaust area of the affected engine but it was definitely not on fire."

Mr Lord said he thought it was "the end" and ran to tell a flight attendant who was already talking to the pilot on the phone. Although the plane was surprisingly calm and no one panicked, he said about 30 people were on their feet looking out of the window "counting the seconds". "I was expecting something to blow any second," he said.

Mr Scutella said the incident lasted about five minutes before "the plane was back to normality".

Qantas said its engineers were looking into what caused the increase in vibration.

SOURCE

2011-05-10T14:28:00.001+10:00

'Unbelievably moronic' Qantas

It seems Qantas just can't get a break. Aussie comedian Corinne Grant is their latest disgruntled passenger, taking to Twitter to vent her frustration at the "moronic" and 'idiotic' airline that left her stranded on the tarmac.

Grant was among other Sydney-bound passengers who found themselves stuck on the tarmac this morning because the plane they had already boarded was deemed unsuitable to fly.

Grant tweeted: "Apparently u don't check the hydraulics for oil leaks until the plane is boarded & about to leave. Have I mentioned how much I hate qantas? "2nd time in 2 wks I've been on a Qantas flight they've discovered at the last minute isn't flight worthy. No wonder staff are striking Fri."

To make matters worse, Grant reported that all passengers were made to sit on the aircraft until they were found other flights. "Unbelievably moronic - they've decided to make us all sit on the aircraft while one by one they find us other flights," she tweeted. "If they'd just let me off the bloody plane I could go to another carrier. But no - we're trapped here & being found planes 1 by 1. Idiotic."

One of her followers is daring enough to suggest that she switch to a Virgin Blue, to which she responds: "I've asked to swap over, but so many companies use Q that it's hard to change their habit. Wish I was flying with anyone else!"

Grant's outburst comes on the back of the announcement by Qantas aircraft engineers that they will strike on Friday over wage discrepancies.

Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) federal secretary Steve Purvinas said concerns about job security had not been allayed by Qantas. "Our wage claim is modest - less than inflation in fact," he said. "What interests us more is job security, and for aircraft engineers that means simply being able to carry out aircraft maintenance in Australia."

But what does Grant think about the proposed strike? "Yes--I support them striking on Friday!!"

SOURCE

2011-05-05T12:55:00.001+10:00

Trainee pilots in the cockpits with Jetstar's domestic flights

JETSTAR passenger services are being flown by trainee pilots with as little as 200 hours experience, according to the pilots' association. The cadets are employed on part-time contracts which guarantee just $57,600 a year - with no pay rise for six years - and require them to pay the airline $10,500 a year for on-the-job training costs. If they wish to resign after less than six years with Jetstar, their contracts require they pay up to $10,000.

Trainees under the program are currently co-piloting Airbus A320s between Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Most are unable to legally fly to New Zealand, where the requirement for commercial pilots is 500 hours experience.

Australian and International Pilots Association vice-president Richard Woodward accused Jetstar of trying to make young pilots "financial prisoners of the airline". "This program is putting a person with about the same number of hours it takes to drive a car in the right hand seat of the cockpit," he said. "Jetstar is creating a 'B scale' for pilots because they're part-time employees."

Jetstar denied the claims and said the program provided an "excellent career opportunity. In the past, becoming a pilot has been extremely expensive and has taken many years of flying in general aviation," a spokeswoman said. "[It] makes becoming a pilot more accessible."

Jetstar said the program, launched late last year, would "deliver enhanced safety outcomes as it is based on ensuring pilot competency, with the pilots trained in Jetstar procedures ... from day one."

SOURCE

2011-05-02T12:34:00.001+10:00

Qantas AGAIN!

Loud bang shakes mine workers' Qantas FIFO flight

A QANTAS flight carrying about 100 mining workers from Perth has been turned back after a loud bang shook the plane. Flight QF1820 took off from Perth Domestic Airport at about 5.40am (WST) today carrying fly in-fly out mine workers to Newman in Western Australia's Pilbara region.

A mining worker on board said the plane had just begun to level out after take-off when the captain told passengers they had experienced a problem with the left engine and would be returning to Perth.

"Shortly after take-off we did experience a bit of a bang. We heard it and felt it as well, and not long after that we dropped a little bit in altitude," Tim Williams told ABC Radio. "We did notice a little bit of instability in the plane in the flight."

Mr Williams said the Boeing 717's take-off seemed normal. But, he said the subsequent drop in altitude caused concern among passengers and cabin crew. "There was quite an uneasy reaction. Everyone sort of stopped what they were doing, had a look around, thought about it for a second and tried to be calm," Mr Williams said. "Just to watch (the crew) was a bit worrying, to see them fumbling themselves, not knowing what to do, but they were quite calm and handled it well."

He said a member of the cabin crew let passengers know what had happened, but "you could hear she was a bit shaky".

"At first, I didn't realise what had happened, but as we dropped in altitude I knew what was going on," the mining worker said. "I was a bit worried, a bit scared, had a little prayer in my head and that was it. It was out of my hands, there was nothing I could do."

The flight landed safely at Perth Domestic Airport.

Many of the mine workers on board were headed to BHP Billiton's Mt Whaleback mine, the biggest single open-cut iron ore mine in the world.

SOURCE

2011-05-01T20:40:00.000+10:00

Jetstar: Terrible service

My wife and newborn child recently had to fly Jetstar to get from Melbourne to Singapore. We lined up to check in for over an hour, then when were told that she couldn't board the flight unless she had her itinery for her onwards flight to Colombia. I let them know that this was incorrect because my Dad is a Singapore PR so all they need is an address and to tell them that she is catching a bus onwards, or that she will fly out shortly and they will let her in. They didn't care.

Not wanting to waste time arguing with someone who hadn't been trained correctly I had the idea to purchase a flexi-ticket and get it refunded a few days later. I did this, the girl who did it for us, informed me that I (as in, me personally) could call up in a couple of days and get the refund. So, I purchased the ticket for my wife and son and they boarded the plane.

Two days later I called up, using the number on the tax invoice that the girl behind the counter handed to me (not my wife who wasn't even nearby when I purchased the ticket) and they told me that since I hadn't been listed as a contact on the ticket I wasn't able to get my refund! I let them know that I was the one who purchased the ticket, I used my debit card, the money came out of my account, I was never asked if I wanted to be a contact (honestly shouldn't this be assumed? I mean how dumb are these people?) yet they wouldn't give me my refund.

Then, after much hassle, I got my wife to call them up and list me as a contact. She did, but when I called in to get my refund, they told me that nothing had been noted down and that I STILL couldn't get my money back.

This is possibly the worst customer service I have ever had to deal with. I don't care how cheap they are, that doesn't mean they have to hire utter morons. All I want is my money back, the money that should have even needed to be spent in the first place.

Will NEVER be flying jetstar again. Won't even consider it, wouldn't even do it if they paid me to. I have since filed a formal complaint with the ombudsmen and will take this to court if I need to. Nobody should have to deal with this level of incompetence.

Source

2011-04-24T14:16:00.001+10:00

Luggage? Who needs it!

Many Jetstar and Qantas passengers were facing a weekend without fresh clothes after they arrived at their destinations on Friday to find the carriers had left their bags behind.

Bentleigh's Damien Arundel was on one of 18 Jetstar flights to leave Tullamarine without most of their passengers' bags on board.
"We touched down in Hobart and it's freezing cold, I'm wearing shorts and thongs and then Jetstar casually informs us that our luggage isn't there," Mr Arundel said. "It's disgusting really. It totally ruined the first day of our holiday."

Jetstar spokeswoman Andrea Wait blamed a broken baggage belt for the fiasco, which also hit passengers on 17 Qantas domestic and international flights.

The airlines were scrambling to deliver the passengers' luggage to their hotels and homes after placing it on later flights.

Qantas spokesman Luke Enright said "almost all" baggage left behind was put on the next available flight.

But an airport source said staff had endured a "horrendous" weekend. The source said "a computer glitch" left entire flight-loads of passengers without their baggage.

SOURCE

2011-04-22T13:04:00.001+10:00

Grounded in Maroochydore

Nothing prepares you for Jetstar

Recently, it was essential for my husband to be in Melbourne the next morning for business, so he booked a Jetstar lunchtime flight from Maroochydore, reasoning that if there was a delay, he could catch either of the next two flights or he would have time to drive to Brisbane and pick one of the many Melbourne flights from there.

He arrived early and was told there was a delay because of a computer failure. He boarded the rescheduled flight for 3pm but after sitting on the tarmac for an hour, passengers were offloaded because staff had overrun their allowable flying time. Not to worry, extra staff were on their way from Brisbane and the new time was 5.15pm.

It got to 5.30pm without any announcements when one passenger accessed Jetstar's website and found the flight had been cancelled. Soon after, an announcement was made: come back tomorrow morning, we are offloading your luggage. My husband had to wait another 20 minutes for his luggage and rushed home to book the last flight from Brisbane.

His extra expenses were $200 for another flight, $200 for an extra night in a hotel to enable him to see the clients he missed, $120 for a taxi at 1am as his pre-arranged car had gone, $100 car parking in Brisbane and petrol.

Told he would get a refund, my husband phoned after a month and was informed he had to wait 15 days. He explained it had been more than that.

The refund finally came through but not the full amount. No mention was made of the Jetstar charter that promises $50 if the airline fails to deliver a service. Glad I stumbled on to it, because it is going to hear from me now.

SOURCE

2011-04-13T13:06:00.000+10:00

Jetstar bans wheelchair-bound pair from flight

The "f*** you" airline again

BUDGET airline Jetstar has been criticised after two disabled passengers were not allowed to board a flight.

Tanya Black and Dan Buckingham, who are television presenters of New Zealand disability show Atttitude - were told that they were not allowed on the plane without their carers, the Dominion Post reported. This is despite the fact that the pair, who were due to fly from Auckland to Wellington, were accompanied by an able-bodied colleague.

New Zealand Disability Issues Minister Tariana Turia said that Jetstar's treatment of the pair was "unacceptable".

The pair said that they were forced to wait at the aircraft's door and after 20 minutes decided to fly with Air New Zealand instead.

They claim that they were later told they could get on the plane if they did not go to the media. However the pair, fed-up with their treatment by the airline, declined.

Jetstar said it will be apologising to the pair and refunding their air fares. A spokesperson for the airline said that the concern was over how they would get to the toilet.

SOURCE

And Qantas maintenance fails again

Fuel system problem forces Qantas landing of flight QF50 from Auckland

A QANTAS flight has made a priority landing at Sydney Airport after experiencing a fuel system problem. The Boeing 737, flight QF50 from Auckland, landed safely about 7.45am (AEST) today.

"The flight crew on board QF50 from Auckland to Sydney requested a priority landing at Sydney Airport as a result of a fuel system fault," a Qantas spokesman said. All passengers disembarked the aircraft safely, he said. Paramedics had been called to the airport as a precaution but were not required to treat anyone.

The spokesman said the fault was not thought to relate to the aircraft's engines. Engineers will now examine the aircraft to determine the exact cause of the problem.

The Qantas spokesman said a fuel transfer valve was being replaced on the aircraft, which is expected to be back in service by this afternoon.

SOURCE

2011-04-02T20:14:00.001+10:00

Jetstar and Qantas both unhelpful

After years of collecting Qantas frequent-flyer points, we finally had enough for our family to fly to Bangkok return. We paid an additional $50 a ticket to book over the phone to ensure we had everything right.

Imagine our horror 10 months later at the Jetstar check-in counter at Sydney Airport when we were told we could not fly because our passports needed six months' validity and the children's passports were eight days short.

I know it's our fault but you'd think they could give you this useful advice over the phone.

On the day of check-in, we received rude treatment from a Qantas staffer who said it was Jetstar's problem, despite the itinerary clearly being titled Qantas and the flights being booked on Qantas frequent-flyer points. With no help from them, we secured two new passports that day, thanks to two wonderful staff at the Sydney passport office, and flew to Bangkok the next day.

All this was aside from the irritation of having to pay for food and inflight entertainment on Jetstar over nine hours and where a blanket costs $8 to hire. In one experience, I have gone from Qantas advocate to critic.

- Stuart Cohen

SOURCE

2011-04-01T15:24:00.002+10:00

The "F*** you" airline again

Jetstar bans a mother and her toddlers from flight -- and still no apology direct to her

JETSTAR has been blamed for giving a mother wrong advice that left her stranded with two young children at an airport. The airline reportedly told Ashley Taipari and her infant twin boys that they would not be able to fly from Auckland to the Gold Coast because she needed another adult to accompany one of her sons, the Papakura Courier,reports.

But Ms Taipari claims she had called Jetstar twice before booking the flight three months ago and told she would be able to travel alone with her children. Ms Taipari says she was told to book only one infant seat, so one twin could sit on her lap while the other would be able to sit in a car seat. She was also told that the car seat would be provided for her so she wouldn’t have to bring her own to the airport.

However, Ms Taipari said she was taken aside when she checked in and told she could not fly. Ms Taipari was told she was only eligible for a refund for the child fare, which would take 10 days to process.

Stranded at the airport since Sunday, Ms Taipari was eventually able to transfer her flights and a friend will accompany her on the way to Australia on Saturday.

Jetstar spokesman Gerard Blank today apologised through the media, saying the company places the highest priority on the safety and security of all its passengers.

SOURCE

2011-03-31T16:31:00.001+10:00

Toughen up, tired Jetstar pilots told

An amazingly dangerous attitude. Tiredness greatly reduces alertness and can lead to serious error

A SENIOR Jetstar manager told pilots to "toughen up princesses" after complaints about fatigue on the budget airline's Perth to Singapore route. The instruction was contained in an email admonishing the airline's pilots, tabled in a Senate committee hearing today in which Qantas and Jetstar executives were questioned about safety standards. In it, pilots were told: "Aeroplanes don't make money sitting on the tarmac, they need to keep flying".

The January 7 email opened with the warning: "If you are easily offended then delete this email and read no further. Toughen up princesses! You aren't fatigued, you are tired and can't be bothered going to work."

However the author, a Perth-based pilot manager, admitted that overnight flights on the Perth to Singapore route were a "horror shift". The pilot manager acknowledged in the email that when he flew the shift, he operated below his normal standards.

"By trial and error, I have worked out what works for me so I can manage the shift," he said. "I can say I hate the shift and I definitely don't operate to my normal standard. I am tired throughout the shift, feel terrible, but I would not call it fatigued."

He concludes the email by saying he was not speaking as a base pilot, but "as a pilot who hasn't lost touch with reality and who wants to make this Perth base work".

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said the surprise tabling of the email, by South Australian independent Senator Nick Xenophon, made it difficult for management to respond properly to the issues raised about its airline subsidiary. He said it was in the airline's interests to hear safety complaints, but those with information should go through the proper channels.

"That document should be sent to the regulator for the regulator to have a look at it," Mr Joyce said. "That's what should be happening with the process. And we are very happy to cooperate with the regulators - we do - to have a look at these issues when they arise."

Jetstar chief executive Bruce Buchanan said there was an incorrect perception the airline pushed its crews to the limit. “Our pilots are working on average, 18 hours flying a week, where you have a compliance maximum of 25 hours a week," he told the Senate's rural affairs and transport committee. “I look at the averages of worked hours across all the bases and I can't see any of them getting close to the limits at the moment."

Senator Xenophon said the email raised serious concerns over safety and the management culture at Jetstar. “Fatigue is a serious issue and can have an impact on the ability for pilots and crews to effectively navigate a plane," he said. "The intimidation in this email is alarming and indicates that there may be a bullying culture among pilots."

But Mr Joyce said he was concerned the email was being taken out of context. "I'm worried about this note that we've got now from a pilot, that this is not a misrepresentation." he said.

Mr Joyce said the Qantas group took a comprehensive approach to fatigue management to ensure pilots were fresh and ready to fly. But he said pilots also had a duty to manage their own levels of tiredness. "It's up to the pilot to identify ... if he's not comfortable and shouldn't be flying. And we rely on that as well as the system," he said.

Jetstar was last year forced to reinstate a whistleblower pilot who was sacked for airing his concerns about falling safety standards. Joe Eakins was fired from the budget airliner in late November after speaking out about a range of cost-cutting measures which he believed compromised safety, including a push towards using foreign-based cabin staff.

He was given his job back and apologised to his employer in an otherwise confidential out-of-court settlement. "I never intended my comments to bring into question the sound and proactive safety culture that exists within Jetstar," Mr Eakins said.

SOURCE

2011-03-27T18:47:00.000+10:00

Qantas flight turns back due to smoke

A Perth-bound Qantas flight has returned to Adelaide after smoke entered the cabin from a malfunctioning oven. The Boeing 737 carrying 124 people turned back on Saturday in line with the airline's safety policy, a Qantas spokeswoman said. 'It was just smoke coming from the oven,' she told AFP. 'The crew turned the oven off but we took the plane back to Adelaide.'

The incident comes just days after a cockpit fire caused by an electrical fault forced a Qantas Airbus A330-200 bound for Manila from Sydney to make an unscheduled landing. In that instance, the pilots used an extinguisher to douse the fire and diverted to the nearest airport at Cairns where they landed safely.

Last November the airline temporarily suspended flights of its Airbus A380 superjumbos after an engine on one exploded after taking off from Singapore, damaging the plane.

Then in January a flight bound for New York made an unscheduled stop in Fiji after the Boeing 747 developed a problem with a fuel valve supplying one of its engines.

Soon after, another Boeing 747 suffered mid-air mechanical trouble after taking off from Bangkok and was forced to return to the Thai capital.

SOURCE

2011-03-26T11:54:00.001+10:00

Grounded Jetstar flight leaves stranded passengers fuming at Adelaide airport

HUNDREDS of Jetstar passengers were left stranded at Adelaide airport last night after a crew member fell ill. Flight JQ775, scheduled to depart Adelaide to Melbourne at 9.40pm was delayed and then cancelled. The ill crew member was not a pilot.

Many passengers missed international transfers in Melbourne.

Jetstar gave many passengers hotel vouchers and a flight booking for early today, but one passenger said they were very angry. "There must be over 200 people here," he said. "They are all really p...ed off."

A Jetstar spokeswoman said it was rare for a flight to be cancelled by a sick crew member. "It is very unusual," she said. "We have arranged replacement flights for early (Saturday) morning and have overnighted passengers who require accommodation."

SOURCE

2011-03-24T14:39:00.001+10:00

Qantas plane catches fire during flight

And it was nearly an hour before it could land

A QANTAS Airbus flying from the Philippines to Sydney has made a forced landing in Cairns after a fire broke out in the plane's cockpit.

Qantas says the Airbus A330 was forced to land in Cairns yesterday afternoon after an electrical fault caused smoke and small flames to appear near the left-hand windscreen of the cockpit.

The airline praised the pilots for reacting calmly to the fire, saying they showed quick thinking in donning oxygen masks and extinguishing the flames, while diverting the Sydney-bound flight to the nearest airport.

"There were no ill effects or injuries experienced by any of the 147 passengers or 11 crew, and all passengers were accommodated on other domestic services to complete their journey to Sydney," a Qantas spokesman said in a statement.

He said the pilots were being praised for "their calm response to the incident."

A 56-year-old passenger on board the flight described the incident as "scary." "There was a burning smell in the cabin that was very strong, and then the captain came over the loudspeaker and explained an electrical problem meant there was a serious risk of fire," the man told Fairfax media. "Later he explained flames had come back for a second time and they'd had to use a fire extinguisher in the cockpit. "Whenever you hear a pilot talk about a fire on a plane it's truly scary. Clearly the incident could have been catastrophic."

The passenger also praised the captain for his calmness during the situation. "He was very composed over the loudspeaker and when the plane landed he took the time to walk back and talk to the passengers," he said.

The fire broke out at 3.35pm (AEDT) and the plane arrived in Cairns 50 minutes later. Qantas said the incident would be investigated, and that the Australian Transport Safety Bureau had been notified.

SOURCE

2011-03-23T12:44:00.000+10:00

Qantas overloaded aircraft

An overloaded Qantas Airbus A330 flying from Sydney to Hong Kong was a risk to flight safety, air investigators have found. A breakdown in the flow of paperwork controlling pallets of freight loaded on to the passenger aircraft led to it being overloaded, exceeding its maximum structural take-off weight by almost a tonne.

As a consequence, pilots configured the plane's flight computers for take-off based on the wrong data about the aircraft's weight and centre of gravity, which "had the potential to affect the safety of flight", investigators with the the Australian Transport Safety Bureau found.

A delay in notifying the error resulted in the aircraft making another 10 flights before maintenance checks for any damage were undertaken. The delay "presented a risk to the ongoing airworthiness of the aircraft", investigators said.

The safety bureau also trawled its records and found 28 freight load control incidents at Qantas in the 2½ years to last August, with the most recent being on July 8 last year. The investigation also uncovered a lapse of quality control at the airline.

Qantas had not reviewed its Sydney freight loading centre for quality assurance in the 22 months before the incident on March 6, 2009. These reviews were supposed to be carried out by senior Qantas management personnel every six months. The last review was conducted in May 2007, investigators found.

"The investigation could not discount that, had those quality assurance reviews been carried out, this occurrence might have been avoided," the bureau's investigators said.

No damage was subsequently found to the aircraft and Qantas has since made changes to the way it loads and checks freight into aircraft, reports incidents and has revamped its staff training, the bureau said.

SOURCE

2011-03-20T11:25:00.001+10:00

Jetstar pilots 'afraid to report risks'

JETSTAR pilots are too afraid to speak out about dangerous overtime and fatigue risks because they are worried about losing their jobs, a Senate inquiry has heard.

An internal Civil Aviation Safety Authority audit of fatigue management at Jetstar, from May 2010, found there was a lack of evidence to demonstrate Jetstar was making appropriate fatigue risk assessment. The audit was tabled by independent senator Nick Xenophon yesterday at a committee hearing into pilot training and airline safety.

The report found "based on feedback from operational personnel, it is not considered Jetstar management has created a culture of open and honest reporting of fatigue risk. "There remains reluctance from a number of flight crew to report fatigue risk and/or to say no to an extension of duty based on the perceived punitive nature of taking such actions."

The vice-president of the Australian and International Pilots Association, Captain Richard Woodward, said there was "a culture of fear and intimidation at that airline". He said AIPA had received dozens of complaints from Jetstar pilots about dangerous working hours, including short turnaround times. All refused to go on the record because they didn't want to lose their job.

CASA director of aviation safety John McCormick said issues in the internal audit had been satisfactorily dealt with, and tabled a subsequent CASA report into fatigue risk at Jetstar, which found fatigue management was reactive and a more proactive system of fatigue risk was in a concept stage.

Jetstar spokesman Simon Westaway said safety was the airline's priority and CASA regularly undertook such audits. He said the audit "delivered no formal request for corrective action into areas assessed". "Jetstar is currently formalising its integrated fatigue risk management system in accordance with best practice."

SOURCE

Jetstar flight crew feared death

A JETSTAR flight crew feared for their lives late last year after their plane came close to crashing during a tropical storm over Darwin, a Senate inquiry has heard. The hearing was told that the A320 passenger jet would not climb and stalled for several minutes.

A Qantas A380 captain, who gave evidence on behalf of the pilot of the Jetstar plane, told the inquiry that a report given to him of the incident told how the pilot and first officer were convinced they would crash.

Richard Woodward, the A380 captain representing the Australian International Airline Pilots' Association, said it was strange the Australian Transport Safety Bureau had closed an inquiry given that the incident was so serious.

"He (the pilot) was quite concerned and thought that they were going to die because of the severe weather event. It (the plane) actually stopped climbing for quite some period of time," Capt Woodward said. "The storm was directly overhead and they (the pilots) couldn't have seen it," he said.

SOURCE

2011-03-12T11:17:00.000+10:00

Qantas can't even do business class well

Like Chris Heenan (Traveller, February 19), I too had a horror trip on Qantas in business class on a flight from Melbourne to London. The leg to Hong Kong was fine but after that the service was non-existent.

Breakfast was served immediately after we left Hong Kong. Then nothing. After about six hours I asked when the next meal would be served as my husband has diabetes and needed to take insulin an hour before he ate. The answer was it would be some time but that snacks were available. So I ordered two tuna sandwiches: one hour and two more requests later they arrived.

Finally, pre-dinner drink orders were taken. Those drinks never arrived. Dinner was a rushed affair and plates were removed speedily as we were descending.

Add to this the help requested to extricate a jammed remote control, which also never came, making a much-anticipated trip very disappointing. This was in business class. Our return trip in premium economy was more enjoyable.

- Wendy Dalton

SOURCE

2011-03-04T09:56:00.001+10:00

Jetstar sorry for 'inhumane' treatment

JETSTAR has come under fire over its "inhumane" policies in three separate incidents following the devastating earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand. Travellers Gillian Smith, Lee Stanish and an unidentified woman all say they were left horrified at their treatment at the hands of Jetstar staff.

Mrs Smith was booked to fly to Melbourne tomorrow to take a break from the aftershocks following the September 4 quake and visit her daughter Sarah, the New Zealand Herald reported. However after last week’s quake Mrs Smith decided to stay at her Christchurch home to look after it, planning to fly to Australia at a later date.

Her daughter took up the task of dealing with Jetstar as Mrs Smith did not have a phone or electricity, but had no luck with her battle for a refund. The airline demanded photographic evidence signed by authorities that passenger’s home was damaged in Christchurch quake before giving her money back, a move Ms Smith called "inhumane". “Seriously, do the police not have enough to do?” Ms Smith said.

Jetstar has apologised for the “mistake” and resolved the matter quickly after being contacted by the media.

Meanwhile Lee Stanish, from Auckland, has accused the airline of lacking compassion for wanting to charge her to transfer her tickets to a family who lost someone in the Christchurch earthquake, NZPA reported. Ms Stanish bought four Jetstar return tickets from Auckland to Christchurch for a family holiday between March 17 and 20.

After seeing the devastation of the quake the family decided to give the tickets to a family who needed to travel to Christchurch for a funeral. However she was told by Jetstar that it would cost $NZ50 ($36) per name change on the ticket, and an extra charge for the difference in price on the new tickets. "How does it work? I don't understand where the compassion is," she said. "Does it really matter who's sitting on the seats?"

However, Jetstar spokesman Simon Westaway said the rules were very clear when people bought tickets. He said Jetstar had been very accommodating over the quake, offering full refunds until Wednesday, and now offering vouchers. "We are being as flexible as we can."

Earlier this week a Wellington woman was told she would not get a refund for her Jetstar ticket bought to attend her graduation at the University of Canterbury next month. "I'm very frustrated because it's as a direct result of the earthquake, they should have included this into their earthquake consideration," she said.

SOURCE

2011-03-03T11:25:00.001+10:00

Passengers in rage over new Qantas check-in

AIRPORT workers have been given panic alarms following a spike in confrontations with passengers following "issues" with Qantas' new automated check-in system. The Australian Services Union (ASU) said many passengers have been left frustrated and outraged when trying to use the new technology, which Qantas began trialling at Perth Airport in July last year.

The trial involved 100,000 of the airline’s frequent flyers, asking them to be more hands-on in the check-in process – such as weighing their own bags.

ASU Federal Secretary Linda White said there have been “a lot of issues” with the new technology, which has led to an increase in incidents involving disruptive passengers. “Passengers are pretty upset about the automated check-in, especially premium passengers as they don’t want to have to do things like carry their own bags,” Ms White said.

“Attacks on our members can range from being spat on or being verbally harassed, and there has been an increase in these kind of incidents since the automated check-in systems were introduced in Perth.”

Ms White said many passengers simply don’t understand how to use the system, which asks them to weigh their bags, pay for excess baggage charges and modify their booking information before checking-in luggage at the automated bag-drop point. “It’s very hard to figure out what to do,” Ms White said.

Qantas has denied the new check-in system is causing problems and said no staff members have used the new duress alarm. “Overwhelmingly, we are getting positive feedback from our customers and the time to check-in has been cut dramatically.”

Currently only about one quarter of the staff at the Perth terminal have the portable device, and the ASU says that every single airport worker should have one. Duress alarms are already installed behind the airport check-in counters, but this is of little use to those workers who aren’t behind the desks.

SOURCE

2011-03-02T13:42:00.001+10:00

New mid-air engine drama for Qantas

QANTAS and Rolls-Royce are again at odds on another engine failure on one of the carrier's biggest planes. The shutdown, overflying Turkmenistan, followed a series of unsuccessful bids by the flight crew to keep the engine operating.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau, investigating, said the decision to cut thrust was amid crew concerns on oil quality.

The same problem had another Qantas A380 limp into London on three engines two weeks earlier. Singapore Airlines, which also flies Rolls-Royce-powered A380s, has had this problem.

A Qantas spokesman said that an engineering inspection on both planes after they arrived in London had found an external line feeding oil to the engine was fitted incorrectly.

SOURCE

2011-02-25T12:05:00.001+10:00

The "f*** you" airline again

Slugging nurse with new fare wasn't great, Jetstar admits

Jetstar's boss, Bruce Buchanan, has conceded that "we were not on our best form" when it tried to charge a nurse for an additional fare after she had attempted to save the life of a fellow passenger.

The mid-air incident on the flight from Singapore to Adelaide on November 6 was one of the matters put to Mr Buchanan and Qantas’s chief executive, Alan Joyce, in Canberra today when they fronted a Senate inquiry into aviation safety and pilot training.

Passengers on JQ62 noticed that an elderly man had spent an "inordinate amount of time" in the toilet, South Australian senator Nick Xenophon told the inquiry today. But one of the passengers, who was a nurse, had difficulty making a flight attendant aware of the the severity of the situation. When the toilet door was finally opened, the 86-year-old man was found slumped over after suffering a heart attack.

Senator Xenophon said the flight attendant did not know how to perform CPR so the nurse had worked to revive the fellow passenger. The flight was diverted to Darwin but he was pronounced dead upon arrival.

The nurse had to stay overnight at Royal Darwin Hospital because the capillaries in her face broke because of her efforts to try to save the passenger. But Senator Xenophon said the nurse was not happy when Jetstar later tried to slug her for an additional fare.

Mr Buchanan said all of Jetstar’s cabin crew were put through CPR training and had refresher courses every two years. But he said it was standard practice for crews to ask whether any medically trained passengers were onboard aircraft when medical emergencies arose because doctors and nurses had "better capability" to handle such situations given their level of experience.

Referring to the incident on JQ62, Mr Buchanan told the inquiry: "I think we were not on our best form the next day when she was disrupted out of Darwin."

Mr Joyce also told the inquiry that safety was the company’s top priority and he rejected "the scaremongering and misinformation that has been put about" regarding practices at the airline. Qantas has about 50 people dedicated to safety while Jetstar has about 30.

Mr Joyce dismissed suggestions today from a senator that standards had been diminished due to cost cutting, and said there was no difference in standards and performance between Jetstar and Qantas.

SOURCE

2011-02-24T17:29:00.001+10:00

Qantas plane gets the wobbles during takeoff

THE take-off of a Qantas A330 passenger plane has been aborted in Perth when the crew felt a sideways movement of the aircraft, the airline has said.

Sydney-bound Flight 566, with 180 passengers aboard, was racing down the runway at the domestic airport around 3.15pm today when the "rejected take-off" occurred, a Qantas spokesman said. "At about 140km/h, which is still well below take-off speed, the flight crew just detected a slight lateral movement in the aircraft which they weren't expecting," he said. "They did what we call a rejected take-off, so they basically hit the brakes and stopped the aircraft."

That caused the plane's brakes to heat up and, in line with procedure, fire appliances were called to help cool the brakes before the aircraft could return to the terminal.

The plane was back at the terminal at 4.20pm and passengers were looked after while it was determined what caused the problem and how to rectify it, the spokesman said. "There were no safety issues, the crew responded as would be expected."

It was hoped to get the flight away later on Wednesday, the spokesman said.

It is the second Qantas flight to be abandoned from Perth this week after a Melbourne-bound plane was forced to land back at Perth shortly after take-off on Monday due to an electrical fault.

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2011-02-22T13:55:00.000+10:00

It never stops: Perth to Melbourne flight delayed after electrical problems

A QANTAS flight from WA to Melbourne has been forced to return to Perth due to 'serious electrical problems'. The Qantas 767 aircraft, flight QF476 to Melbourne, circled Perth for 30 minutes after a delayed takeoff caused by a generator fault in one engine, passengers were told.

The captain cleared the plane for departure but further problems are believed to have occurred during take-off and the decision was made to turn the aircraft back. It sat on the tarmac for a further 20 minutes awaiting a dock.

A spokesman for the airline said: "A flight from Perth to Melbourne was turned back as a precaution following a minor electrical issue. All passengers have been accommodated on later flights."

A passengers said it appeared to be an intention for the Qantas engineers to check the plane at dock but the captain told them that the problems were more serious than first thought and that the plane "wasn't going anywhere".

One passenger said, "We were told in the air there was an electrical problem. Then when we landed back in Perth they were 'serious electrical problems'." The passengers were told to disembark and await further notice.

It has caused disruption for scores of passengers en route to Sydney, the Gold Coast and Hobart.

SOURCE

2011-02-19T20:06:00.001+10:00

Qantas 'case' studies

As a frequent flyer to Hong Kong, I have found the recent service on Qantas flights unacceptable.

Case 1: During the meal service I was asked if I would prefer chicken or fish. "Chicken please." "Sorry sir, we have run out of chicken." "Then I suppose I will have to have the fish." "Sorry sir, no fish!" I was then offered a cup of noodles.

Case 2: A passenger next to me mentioned to the cabin attendant that his TV monitor was not working properly. The attendant suggested he lean over and watch mine.

Case 3: My tray table would not sit open correctly. The cabin attendant suggested I place the meal on my lap. I spent the next hour removing Moroccan lamb from my attire.

- Chris Heenan

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New problem hits Qantas A380 engine

A clear case of negligent maintenance

Air-safety inspectors are investigating oil problems with an engine on a Qantas A380 superjumbo after pilots decided to reduce its thrust to idle about two hours out of London.

The pilots of the A380 noticed a gradual decrease in the amount of oil the number-four engine was using while flying over India's capital, New Delhi, on Tuesday during a service from Singapore.

The crew decided as a precaution to reduce the engine's thrust to idle about two hours' flying time away from Heathrow airport.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau said an engineering inspection later found that an external oil line on the engine had not been correctly refitted after it had been removed for testing.

The Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine was one of many inspected in the weeks after a Qantas A380 suffered a midair engine explosion shortly after take-off from Singapore late last year.

Qantas said today that the latest problem "is not related in any way" to the QF32 incident on November 4, which forced the airline to ground its superjumbo fleet for weeks. It stressed that the engine was placed on idle thrust and was not shut down at any stage during the flight.

The A380 involved in the latest incident – the third that Qantas took delivery of – remains in service. The ATSB is continuing its investigation.

SOURCE

2011-02-17T13:15:00.001+10:00

Jetstar: Passenger safety 'at risk due to cost cutting'

Airline safety is being eroded as operators cut crew training time and other costs, a senior pilot trainer has warned. Geoff Klouth, an A320 training captain with budget carrier Jetstar Airways, said a drop in training standards and checks had prompted him to make a submission to a Senate inquiry into airline safety.

"Safety margins that were a normal part of the aviation industries and which contributed to Australia's safety record have been and are being eroded to a point where airlines' safety can no longer be considered as a given," Mr Klouth told the inquiry in Canberra.

He said insufficient pilot and cabin crew training, poor rostering leading to increased fatigue and an overall reduction in resources were cause for concern. Airlines had cut the training time for cabin crew and were relying more on cadet pilots to drive down their operating costs, Mr Klouth said.

Mr Klouth said shortening the training time for cabin crew had implications for the operation of the aircraft and passenger safety. "If you are crammed with six weeks' worth of knowledge in three weeks, it is inevitable that you are not going to be able to recall all the important pieces of information that you need to," he said.

Mr Klouth recommended to the committee that training for a commercial pilot's licence be a minimum of 1500 hours and all airlines should release their draft or final reports on safety incidents to the ATSB.

He has previosly raised concerns about some flight attendants completing their training without having operated on the A321 aircraft, leaving them unsure how to "arm" the doors. "They have been unable to 'arm' doors. Arming the doors is necessary to allow for the automatic deployment of the emergency escape slide if the aircraft has to be evacuated," Mr Klouth said.

The increasing number of flight attendants who are based in Singapore and Bangkok yet operate domestically on international flights is also an issue of concern. “The foreign based crew all speak English but the ability to be understood in an emergency is an aspect of their training that is not effectively assessed.”

He said that airlines are under increasing pressure airlines to cut costs. “The CEO of Jetstar requires a 10 per cent reduction in the airline costs per year. In a safety sensitive industry this will result in a reduction of the safety margins that have contributed to Australia’s aviation safety record."

SOURCE

2011-02-06T13:09:00.001+10:00

Even Jetstar is a better airline than Qantas

IT'S SHOCKING really … but who was surprised that Qantas, having promised to get stranded Australians out of Egypt, left them waiting another 13 hours in the hell of Cairo airport due to "technical problems".

I don't doubt the endless mechanical failures and depressurisation incidents we hear every other day are overblown. No doubt they have always occurred routinely: it's just that passengers armed with Facebook, Twitter and video cameras didn't act as vigilante reporters in days gone by. Still, the dismal diary of "incidents" reported at Qantas is surely filling to the point where the brand - once the best in Australia - is a shadow of its former self.

Moreover, beyond such intangibles as brand decay, there are verifiable facts surrounding Qantas Airways - the ASX-listed holding company that covers all the subsidiaries - which are simply inescapable.

In the case of Qantas International, the company is stuck with archaically old planes and the attempts to refresh the fleet have been delayed, significantly with the dramatic problems in the A380s. The "super jumbos" were shaping up as a potential favourite among travellers until one of them had to make an emergency landing in Asia before Christmas.

The other plain truth about Qantas Airways is that strategically it is being sandwiched - rival global carriers such as Etihad are coming down hard, while its offshoot, Jetstar, is a better business on almost every measure and is moving upmarket.

No surprise then to hear that Alan Joyce, the former Ryanair and Jetstar executive who is head of Qantas Airways, is to run a strategic review of the airline. There is talk of joint ventures, of a renewed thrust into China and other initiatives.

Yet while Joyce hints at these changes, he also comes out with very negative comments about Qantas International - last week he said the division was falling "significantly short of expectations".

Meanwhile, Qantas stock is steady … in fact in recent days, despite a new fuel surcharge, the share price has started to lift. Why? Well, virtually every stockbroker in the market reckons Qantas Airways is a buy - the stock closed for the weekend at $2.41 yet the 12-month price targets from brokers range between $3 and $3.70.

The optimistic forecasts follow suggestions from analysts that Jetstar is now so strong - especially in Asia - it can deal with the drag imposed by Qantas International.

But you'd have to think that Joyce, himself a product of the low-budget Jetstar (and earlier of the ultra low-budget Ryanair), would have to consider closing down Qantas International as a potential way out of the conundrum he faces as boss of the whole show.

Joyce is highly regarded by many in the industry - crucially he has shown the ability to respond in a decisive manner to every issue thrown at him, including the unprecedented spectacle of European airports closed en masse due to clouds of Icelandic volcanic ash.

But would he move to close Qantas International, leaving us with a national airline called Jetstar? … I wouldn't rule it out; Jetstar now has the potential to be a better brand than Qantas.

SOURCE

2011-02-04T22:46:00.001+10:00

What a hopeless mob! Qantas engine fault leaves Aussies stranded in Cairo

AUSTRALIANS trying to escape Egypt's violence have been left stranded due to an engine fault in a Qantas 747.

The free mercy flight, organised by Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Qantas, was due to arrive at Frankfurt Airport, Germany, at 5.30am AEDT carrying Australian citizens. But at midnight the plane was still grounded at Frankfurt, unable to leave for Cairo.

About 50 Australians were waiting at Cairo Airport to be airlifted out of the strife-torn country last night.

It was the second free rescue flight deployed by the Australian Government. The first flight, carrying more than 190 people, landed in Frankfurt early today.

A spokesman last night confirmed the Qantas flight had not left Frankfurt Airport for Cairo due to engine problems and was being fixed by engineers. He said he was unable to say when the stranded Australians would be rescued but that they were committed to getting all citizens out of Egypt.

More than 700 Australians have registered with DFAT saying they needed to be evacuated from the troubled country.

SOURCE

2011-01-28T18:38:00.001+10:00

The "F*** you" airline again

Jetstar has cancelled all of today's Bali flights due to a volcanic ash cloud, as stranded passengers express anger over a lack of communication.

The airline has rejected accusations it is failing to effectively communicate with stranded Australians in Bali, after passengers claimed they had received little information from the airline.

"We've checked with the airline but they're hopeless," said passenger Simon Hammond, an advertising executive who is reaching the end of a two-week family holiday in Bali. "They've got absolutely no information available [and] don't answer their phones." "There is no information, there is no answer to any telephone calls, there is no SMS when they promise to do so," he said. "It's unbelieveable."

Mr Hammond's sentiments were echoed by other Jetstar passengers who contacted this website. "We have had no communication from Jetstar," said Luanne Hopkinson. "The accommodation they provided was very bad, many people including myself left. [We're] still waiting communication from Jetstar as to what flight we will be placed on," she said.

The travel plans of thousands of Australians have been thrown into chaos after an Indonesian volcano, the Tengger Caldera, erupted, belching a large ash plume into busy airspace yesterday.

About 2000 Jetstar passengers are affected today, about 700 of them are marooned in Bali from flights grounded last night.

Jetstar spokesman Simon Westaway rejected accusations the airline was not doing its utmost to keep passengers informed and was putting contingencies in place. "We are communicating to customers, I take the point people might be frustrated. "We are doing everything we can: we are providing regular updates publicly, we are providing updates on the website and call centre.

"I appreciate that people could be frustrated but we are providing updates as best we can, and as reguarly as we can, and as accurately as we can," he said. "It's bit of a moving issue today - I reject the accusation that our organisation isn't being absolutely pro-active in keeping people informed and, importantly, pro-active in seeking to get people back to Australia. "We appreciate this issue. We are doing our absolute utmost," he said.

Mr Hammond, a brand mangement expert, advises leading companies on how to reach and engage with their customers. "Anyone I talk to about the brand of Jetstar say exactly the same thing: they are the worst service airline when it comes to giving you access to details and reassurance. "It's just re-emphasises that this brand only cares about costs, it doesn't care about passengers.

Mr Westaway said the uncertainty surrounding the movement of the ash cloud was hampering decisions, and in the meantime was assisting passengers. "We are meeting people's accommodation requirements, we will get them on flights to return them home, we are in the process of doing that. "At the moment we can't, as we are yet to make the call as to whether we can get aircraft there from the east coast of Australia.

"It's not a simple solution to say: 'I need information now, where is it?' We are not yet in a position to provide firm information about when people can return home.

"We've really got to get confidence that this volcanic ash plume has moved onwards and won't return and we're looking at a plan now to put in additional services to recover customers. It's a wait and see game for the next 12 to 24 hours. "Once we get comfort that the ash cloud moves well beyond the vacinity of the airport, we will be looking at additional services to bring people back.

Mr Westaway said Jetstar was formulating a recovery plan. "We are putting in place a plan over the next 24 hours to be able to do that. It's just very difficult at the moment to articulate that because we need to get some confidence the airspace is going to be able to be safe to operate in, in the evening when the majority of our services occur," Mr Westaway said. The airline's policy of fee waivers, rebookings and refunds applies, he said.

Flights were initially expected to restart this afternoon, staring with Jetstar's JQ116 10.05am (local time) Perth to Denpasar flight, but this has since been cancelled. Jetstar's website still listed the flight as operating on its volcano information page at 12.39pm and a Jetstar call centre staff member said the flight had departed.

SOURCE

2011-01-26T21:51:00.000+10:00

Qantas plane drops 20,000 feet during Melbourne-bound flight

Defective aircraft are now routine for Qantas. Their cost cutting will cause deaths in time

"Panicky" attendants were the first sign that something was "awfully wrong" on Qantas Flight 670 yesterday. The Boeing 737-400, which left Adelaide Airport at 6.20am bound for Melbourne, had been in the air for about 30 minutes when the airconditioning system suddenly depressurised and and oxygen masks dropped in the cabin.

The pilot was forced to plunge from 36,000 feet to 10,000 feet to stabilise the cabin pressure. One passenger, Simon, said the first they knew of the drama was when some of the flight attendants looked "panicky". "We knew there was something wrong because we were heading down," he said.

"We started powering down. It was quite a rapid rate. From there the masks dropped and they (the masks) sat there. We didn't know what it was for, there was no communication. "Finally we put on the masks and then the emergency message came across telling us `this is an emergency'.

"It appeared the flight attendants were looking at each other trying not to be the first ones that panicked - we knew something was awfully wrong. There was no yelling or screaming among the passengers, just a few people panicking, shaking, just generally scared for their lives." He said the passengers had their masks on for about 10 minutes.

A Qantas spokeswoman said the plane had a depressurisation problem in the cabin which was the result of an airconditioner fault. "There was no safety issue at any time, emergency services were not required to attend the aircraft, it was a normal routine landing," she said. "They (the crew) asked for a rapid descent as a result of a depressurisation. There was no medical assistance required."

SOURCE

Qantas 747 forced to return to Bangkok after engine problem

HOURS after a Qantas jet plunged almost 8000m during an emergency descent yesterday a Sydney-bound flight was forced to return to Bangkok because of engine problems.

Flight QF2 carrying 352 passengers was about 30 minutes into its flight from Bangkok International Airport when one of its engines began "consuming fuel more quickly than normal" a Qantas spokesman said. It was forced to return to Bangkok where it landed safely about 7pm local time (11pm AEST).

Affected passengers are expected to spend a second night in temporary accommodation with Qantas scrambling to send a replacement engine from Sydney for the troubled Boeing 747 today. "As far as possible we will try and get passengers who need to return to Sydney urgently on other flights but that will be dependent on availability on other airlines," the spokesman said.

"It was not actually an engine failure, (the pilots) did not shut the engine down they just reduced the thrust."

However one passenger on the flight says the engine "blew".

The spokesman said there were no other replacement Qantas aircraft available in Bangkok.

The latest safety drama for the besieged airline follows the emergency descent of a Boeing 737-400 yesterday after its cabin lost pressure on a flight from Adelaide to Melbourne.

Almost 100 passengers on board the flight were forced to wear oxygen masks as the plane plummeted 7900m to a height of 3000m.

Qantas said an air-conditioning fault caused the depressurisation.

Last week a trans-Pacific flight carrying 375 passengers diverted to Fiji after suffering an engine problem while in November Qantas suffered its most serious safety scare when an engine exploded mid-air en route to Sydney on board one of its flagship A380s.

Last night's incident was not the first time flight QF2 has been forced to land because of mechanical problems. In January 2008 the airline and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau launched an investigation after QF2 from London lost power from all four of its generators on its descent into Bangkok.

The 747 with 344 passengers on board lost electrical power about 15 minutes away from landing. At the time the ATSB said if the power failure occurred further away from an airport there could have been a serious accident.

SOURCE

2011-01-19T11:19:00.000+10:00

AGAIN! Fault forces US-bound Qantas flight to divert to Fiji

A Qantas jet carrying almost 400 people from Sydney to New York was diverted to Fiji after a fuel valve fault yesterday, just four days after another safety scare on one of its planes.

QF107 left Sydney about 12.15pm yesterday and was heading towards New York via Los Angeles when the flight crew spotted a fault in a fuel valve of the Boeing 747-400 aircraft, a Qantas spokeswoman said.

The plane was diverted to Nadi airport in Fiji and landed there at 6.20pm ADST. Twenty passengers were transferred to an Air Pacific flight to Los Angeles, while the remaining 354 passengers, four flight crew and 16 cabin crew were provided accommodation in Nadi for the night, the spokeswoman said. Engineers fixed the fault overnight and the flight has now departed for Los Angeles at 9am ADST.

On Saturday, QF11 from Sydney to Los Angeles was preparing for take off when one of its engines experienced a "contained turbine blade failure". The 344 passengers on board, some of whom described hearing a "loud bang", were moved to a second plane that departed four hours later.

Two weeks ago, Sydney-bound flight QF430 turned back to Melbourne after a possible problem with one of the Boeing 767’s wingflaps.

The incidents took place just as the Australian national carrier resumed its A380 flights to Los Angeles on January 16 after a mid-air engine explosion over Indonesia on November 4 grounded all Airbus planes of the same make.

SOURCE

2011-01-17T15:34:00.000+10:00

ANOTHER Qantas jet engine failure

Just dumb luck that the engine failed on the ground. A couple of minutes later and it could have been a disaster. Losing power in the middle of a climb is VERY dicey. Do Qantas do ANY maintenance on their planes?

ANOTHER Qantas jet engine blew up yesterday, this time as the plane was just seconds away from take-off at Sydney Airport.

Flight QF11 to Los Angeles, carrying 344 passengers, was on the runway preparing to take off at 3.30pm when its number one engine suffered a complete failure. Passengers onboard the 747 described hearing "a loud bang" and then watching as black smoke poured out of the crippled engine. The captain then reportedly announced over the intercom that the engine had "cooked itself".

A spokeswoman for Qantas said the plane was on the runway and cleared for take-off when it had a "low-speed engine failure". "As it was taxiing for take-off, it had a low-speed engine failure of the number one engine," the spokeswoman said. "(It) was in the process of speeding up when the engine failed."

She could not confirm the report of the captain's diagnosis. "I don't have those details, but there was a noise and an indication in the cockpit ... it was a contained engine failure, there was no fire," she said.

The stricken aircraft remained on the runway for 30 minutes while engineers assessed it before it was cleared to taxi back to the gate under its own power. The spokeswoman said the passengers disembarked at the gate and a replacement 747 aircraft was scheduled to leave at 7pm. It finally took off at 7.38pm.

It was too early to tell what had caused the engine failure but engineers were "obviously inspecting it" she said.

Yesterday's incident is the latest in a shocking run for the national carrier, which had to ground its entire A380 fleet in November after one of the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines exploded in mid-air shortly after take-off from Singapore.

The total cost of grounding its entire fleet of A380s, and replacing 16 of the A380 engines, has been estimated at $80 million.

The day after the A380 near-disaster, a Qantas 747-400 aircraft had a mid-air incident, with flames bursting from an engine just after take-off from Singapore.

SOURCE

2011-01-15T15:30:00.001+10:00

Crooked Qantas hit for $26.5 million

In 2007 they were fined $US61 million for similar behaviour but appeared not to learn from that: Stupid as well as crooked

Australian airline Qantas said Friday it would pay $US26.5 million ($26.58 million) to settle a class action brought in the United States relating to price-fixing in its cargo division.

The deal, which is subject to court approval, would resolve the carrier from its involvement in a legal case brought against a number of airlines related to collusion on fuel surcharges on cargo over a six-year period.

"Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Qantas will pay $US26.5 million, which is based on Qantas' freight revenue to/from the United States," the airline said in a statement. "Qantas must also cooperate with the class action plaintiffs."

In exchange, Qantas would be released from claims made by all class members who were direct purchasers of air cargo services to or from the United States between January 2000 and September 2006, it said.

In 2007 Qantas was fined $US61 million by the US Justice Department for price fixing in the air freight industry and the airline said it was committed to cooperating fully with global antitrust regulators on improper conduct in its freight division.

Qantas has also already resolved its liability in Australia, Canada, South Korea and Europe over the price-fixing.

SOURCE

2011-01-09T10:34:00.001+10:00

Qantas in near-miss at Melbourne Airport

MELBOURNE travellers have told of a near miss between a landing Qantas 767 jet and a Jetstar plane on the ground at Melbourne Airport today. Martin Russell said that just after 3pm (AEDT) a Qantas jet was 10 metres above the runway but aborted the landing and took off, the Herald-Sun reports.

He said 10 seconds later a Jetstar plane appeared on the ground at the spot on the east-west runway where the Qantas jet was about to land. Mr Russell, a businessman from Hawthorn, said that if the Qantas plane had not taken off, there would have been a head-on crash.

But a spokesman for Air Services Australia, which runs the airport control towers, said there had been no reports of a near-miss incident. He said because of wind shear, four planes had aborted landings and done a "go around'' before successfully landing.

A Qantas spokesman said a flight from Sydney had been forced to abort a landing when the plane had been “less than 100 feet” from the ground.

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2011-01-02T15:11:00.000+10:00

Qantas plane grounded after cockpit malfunction

A QANTAS international flight had to return to Australia half an hour after take-off after a technical glitch in the cockpit. The plane was travelling from Sydney to Jakarta, in Indonesia, when the crew was alerted to a problem.

"The flight QF41 took off from Sydney at 3.20pm but soon after a cockpit message alert was sent to the crew. "The captain followed procedures and returned to Sydney at 3.55pm.

"Engineers inspected the plane, as passengers stayed on board, and found out it was a false alarm within half an hour. "It then took another half an hour before a take-off slot could be found and the plane left for its destination of Jakarta at 4.55pm," a Qantas spokesman said.

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2010-12-30T12:49:00.000+10:00

Qantas backs off stupid restrictions

Still no reason why the policy was introduced. It was obviously introduced after zero consultations with the people affected.

QANTAS has bowed to pressure from a social networking campaign against its policy for carrying musical instruments on flights. It has adopted a policy that allows instruments it previously consigned to the cargo hold to be carried on board.

Its policy change follows a campaign on Facebook that drew 8700 supporters who were outraged that Qantas's stand meant instruments were at risk of being damaged in the hold.

The campaign was sparked by Qantas introducing a policy last year that all musical instruments had to be checked in as hold luggage, except violins and violas. Its policy created a furore within the musical community.

The Facebook protest was started by an award-winning Perth saxophonist, Jamie Oehlers, whose tenor saxophone was damaged when Qantas insisted it went in the hold on a flight to Melbourne a couple of months ago.

He started a Stop Qantas "No musical instruments on board policy protest" on the Facebook Causes site. Among those who signed it were the classical guitarist Leonard Grigoryan, Attack of the Mannequins' Jackson Freud and symphony orchestra members.

Qantas confirmed yesterday: "As a result of customer feedback we have revised our policy relating to the carriage of small musical instruments as carry-on baggage. "Due to the delicate nature of musical instruments, customers who travel on Qantas-operated services are no longer required to check in as checked baggage a small musical instrument that slightly exceeds the carry-on baggage limit of a total of 115 centimetres," a spokeswoman said.

The instrument must not exceed 81 centimetres in length, 30 centimetres in height or 19 centimetres in depth, she said.

While joking that travelling musicians will now have to carry a tape measure, Oehlers said: "It seems fair enough. Just the fact that it ends discrimination between violins and violas and any instruments of the same size."

Booked to fly Qantas for a performance in New York in two weeks, he said it was a relief "just to be able to get my horn on board and know it will arrive safely and not bent".

SOURCE

2010-12-22T12:43:00.000+10:00

How Australian is Jetstar?

Below is a union point of view. It does however overlook the environment Jetstar is operating in. Jetstar could well cease to exist if it has to pay much higher salaries than its Asian rivals. Jetstar offers cheap and nasty travel. If people want better service and greater safety Qantas is positioned to offer that -- though whether it actually does would seem moot

The key take out that everyone in Australia got from the recent Qantas incident in Singapore is that pilot experience is critically important. As more and more information filters about just how serious the situation was with QF32, pilot training and experience are being widely acknowledged, from the CEO of Qantas down, as having arguably made the difference.

Given the travails of Qantas over recent weeks, you would think that Jetstar would think twice about its absurd plans to put less and less experienced pilots in the cockpit of its aircraft.

Until now Jetstar have employed pilots with a minimum of 2000 hours flight time and in fact, most, if not all, have more than 2000 hours flight time experience. What the company, however, is proposing to do in the near future is employ cadet pilots with as little as 200 hours total flight time.

Whilst the 200 hours will be supplemented by a further 1000 hours “supervised training”, what it neglects to mention is that some of this “supervised training” refers to actual flying time with fare paying passengers onboard.

That effectively means that pilots with a minimum of 200 hours total flight time experience will potentially be cutting their teeth with fare paying passengers onboard in an operating environment considered to be complex and demanding of even highly experienced pilots.

These cadets will pay up to $180 000 out of their own pockets for their training with no guarantee of employment at Jetstar. If they are indeed employed by the company they will be paid wages that are proposed to be less than half that of a regular newly recruited pilot at Jetstar.

In fact, their proposed salary is well below the Modern Pilots Award, which sets the minimum standards of employment in Australia.

Despite the cadets huge training debts they will be “bonded” to the company for up to 6 years and during that time will, based on my information, earn approximately $42,000.00 (New Zealand Dollars) a year, less than most secretaries or factory workers (before making the payments on their huge debts).

The people who are really paying for Jetstar CEO Bruce Buchanan’s aggressive cost-cutting strategy could be Jetstar’s fare paying passengers. Is a pilot with 200 hours actual flying experience as safe as a 2000 hours experienced pilot? Are you as competent a driver when you had your P plates for 2 months, as compared to now? You be the judge.

Jetstar’s Australian pilots feel their job security to be coming increasingly under threat as the company moves aggressively to undermine Australian working conditions by creating artificial offshore entities that are able to circumvent the Fair Work Act and pay pilots less than the relevant minimum Australian standards.

The company has recently offered employment to Australian pilots in off-shore entities to operate in and out of Australia and AIPA believes that if this trend is allowed to continue unchecked, the entire Australian Aviation industry could be off-shored using artificial foreign corporate entities to circumvent Australian workplace laws.

This would deprive an entire section of Australian society of their livelihood and irreparably diminish Australia’s reputation for aviation safety and excellence.

Mr Buchanan stated in his address to the National Aviation Press Club on the 15th of November that “Our cost base must reflect the markets we sell seats in and enable us to provide a competitive relevant offering to consumers in each of these markets. To achieve this we are developing significant local bases with locally relevant network offerings”.

Strategies such as these will see Australian Jetstar pilots, having to move their families to bases overseas, fly in and out of Australia, on third world pay rates.

What is the “regional relevance” of paying a pilot in New Zealand Dollars (less than the Australian Award) to fly an Australian aircraft from Sydney to Fiji or even worse, using these NZ$42,000.00-cadet pilots to operate domestically in Australia?

The passengers on those flights are paying their fares in Australian Dollars. It is Australian flying by an Australian company and they should be paying the appropriate Australian salary. It is not about obtaining “regional relevance”.

This term is merely a façade to justify employing people on third world wages to work for an Australian airline, doing Australian work. It begs the question, how ‘Australian’ is Jetstar? Is what Jetstar doing ‘Australian’?

Australian aviation is at the crossroads. I understand that everyone loves cheap fares but nothing is for nothing and those who run Jetstar have failed to comprehend the lessons from recent events: experience may cost a little bit more, but it certainly counts for much, much, more – and I don’t think the travelling public will disagree.

SOURCE

One experience of the difference between Qantas and Jetstar

A few weeks ago I flew Perth-Melb-Newcastle…the first leg was Qantas, great - business class, Qantas lounge….

The second leg was Jetstar. I had a 3.5 hour wait at Melbourne, so I went straight to the check in line….HUGE. It took me a bit over an hour waiting in line to get to the counter, where I was informed by a very disinterested young girl, who had a smart mouth on her, that I couldn’t check in until two hours before the flight.

Fine…I grabbed my luggage (since Qantas and Jetstar couldn’t check anything through). I go back after having a bite to eat, wait in a longer line this time, get to the counter with 45 minutes to spare only to be told check-ins had closed for that flight!!

I calmly explain my predicament and highlight the fact that it was the second time I’d queued - tough luck. Turns out that flight was delayed by over 3 hours anyway…but they still wouldn’t let me on.

I refuse to use Jetstar ever again

SOURCE (Comments)

2010-12-21T16:55:00.001+10:00

Another fail for Qantas

After six hours on tarmac in London, family sent home ... only to see their plane take off on live TV

It was not the first Christmas holiday little George Painter was hoping for. The 10-month-old spent six hours stranded with his parents on the tarmac at Heathrow Airport after the family's QF32 flight to Sydney, via Singapore, was cancelled.

George's father, Robert Painter, said the London airport was in "utter chaos" as snow and ice ground operations to a halt. "After six hours on the tarmac we were finally told the flight would not go," Mr Painter said via email. "Qantas were great until then in keeping us informed and cared for, although [British Airways] were better in cancelling flights much earlier."

"We were then told to leave without clear instruction other than to call a helpline at 6am. "Passengers had nowhere to go, there were no announcements, restaurants at the airport ran out of food and tensions were high."

The family, who had left their north London home at 7am, arrived back about midnight and were told the next morning further flights on Sunday were "unlikely" and they would be telephoned after 8am if there were changes. "So it was a bit of a shock to wake up at 10.30am to discover the flight was due to take off at 11am," Mr Painter said.

"There was no call to passengers as promised and the flight was one of the few to take off today. "So rare that we actually watched the flight take off live on BBC news and heard a plane fly over our house 15 minutes later."

SOURCE

2010-12-20T18:52:00.001+10:00

Engine problem diverts Jetstar plane

A JETSTAR flight travelling from Bali to Melbourne was forced to make an emergency landing in Adelaide after one of its two engines failed. The plane, which was carrying 226 passengers, landed in Adelaide airport just before 7am after the pilots reported they were experiencing engine trouble, the Seven Network reported.

Carrol O'Neill, who was a passenger on the flight, said the plane suddenly descended while over South Australia. "They said we were going to make an emergency landing in Adelaide as one of the engines had failed,'' Ms O'Neill said.

The Airbus A330 plane was bought by Qantas in 2008 and transferred into the Jetstar fleet only a few weeks ago. An investigation into the engine failure will be conducted by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

A Jetstar spokeswoman said a technical problem meant the aircraft's right engine was "operating on a lower power setting''.

SOURCE

2010-12-18T09:41:00.001+10:00

Transplant patient carried through Melbourne Airport after Jetstar refused wheelchair

Their usual form

A FIVE-year-old recovering from 151 days on a mechanical heart and a traumatic transplant had to be carried through Melbourne Airport because Jetstar wouldn't give his mother a wheelchair.

To add insult to injury, the airline also forced Kellin Hyde's mum to use his Christmas present money to fly his life-saving medication and toys home yesterday because their bags weighed too much, reported the Herald Sun. Jetstar officials yesterday called Ms Hyde to apologise and refund part of the money.

Andrea Hyde said she told the airline her son was ill. "He had a mask on his face and I explained to them he had a transplant, that he had been on a mechanical heart for 151 days and that he was going home for the first time in nine months, and they didn't care," she said.

"Kellin was getting tired and he was struggling because there was so many people around, so we asked if we could have help with a wheelchair to get to the aeroplane, and they said, 'No, we don't have wheelchairs'."

For five months Kellin was kept alive on a mechanical heart after his own heart had all but died. He needed to be revived and saved by Royal Children's Hospital doctors many times before enduring a traumatic transplant recently.

His parents celebrated when they were told he could finally leave the hospital on Thursday night for a dream Christmas at their Gold Coast home.

But Ms Hyde's relief turned to despair when she arrived at the airport to be told her bags were too heavy because they were overflowing with medication and toys donated by children's charities to help him through the trauma, and that she would have to pay extra for them to fly. "I just started crying. It is $200 that we just don't have," she said. "That is his Christmas present gone now. I can't afford to buy him anything.

"I had a rolling bag full of medicine, another square travel bag and a box full of medicine, but I had to take his medication out of the bag and carry it because it made his suitcase too heavy.

"Her (the Jetstar manager's) excuse was that we should have paid for our baggage in advance, but we didn't even know we were going until the night before."

Ms Hyde said she counted 55 empty seats on the flight and couldn't understand why Jetstar had refused to offer her family compassion.
A Jetstar spokeswoman said: "We sincerely regret that in this instance we were not advised a wheelchair was required and so one was not available.

"To minimise the excess baggage, we transferred some of the items to the passengers' hand luggage and halved the amount of fees due as a gesture of good will."

SOURCE

2010-12-14T13:11:00.001+10:00

Qantas jet's 'lucky escape' after water leak

This happened in 2008 but apparently the final report on it has just been released

LEAKING water knocked out electricity to a number of systems during a Qantas 747's flight to Bangkok, forcing the crew to land using limited battery power in a race against the clock.

The plane, with 346 passengers and 19 crew, was on descent in 2008 when the flight crew were alerted to a “substantial” water leak in the galley. As a result of the leak many of the aircraft‘s communication, navigation, monitoring and warning, and flight guidance systems were affected.

Had the event occurred more than 30 minutes flying time from the nearest suitable airport, or if there had been a delay prior to landing, numerous flight-critical systems would have become unavailable, placing the flight at “considerable” risk, air safety investigators warned.

The aircraft‘s batteries were available to provide power to critical systems for a limited period of time if the primary power sources were lost. “The limited battery power available restricted the amount of time that the aircraft‘s remaining functional instrumentation and communication systems were available to the crew, which necessitated an expedited descent and landing in order to reduce the risk of those systems failing,” a report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said.

At the end of the taxi to the passenger terminal the plane had been using battery power for approximately 21 minutes. The crew was unable to determine the time at which the aircraft had switched to battery power, or when the 30 minutes of minimum battery life would elapse.

If the plane had missed its approach or been at a different point in the flight when the use of battery power became necessary, the amount of battery power left could have been critical to the safe operation of the aircraft, the investigators said.

The investigation found that the galley leak was caused by an overflowing drain after a drain line was blocked with ice that had formed due to an inoperable drain line heater. The water flowed into the aircraft’s main equipment centre before leaking onto three of the plane’s four generator control units, causing them to malfunction and shut down.

The flight crew manuals did not contain information on means to extend the limited battery life or on managing the aircraft if the batteries were depleted.

The ATSB has issued two safety recommendations and a safety advisory notice as a result of the investigation.

SOURCE

2010-12-11T12:15:00.000+10:00

'Electrical issue' strands Qantas passengers -- again

The Qantas idea of maintenance seems to be to wait for something to go wrong and then fix it

THE Qantas brand has suffered another blow after a mechanical failure left 260 passengers on a San Francisco tarmac for more than four hours before the flight for Sydney was aborted last night.

Passengers had just boarded the Boeing 747 QF74 at 10pm (San Franciscan time) when the cabin blacked out and the emergency lights came on. "The pilot simply said 'APU fail' and then said later 'Don't be alarmed. Fire trucks are at the back of the plane but it is only precautionary. A fire extinguisher has been depleted and the engineers are having a look'," one passenger said last night.

The problem was the auxiliary power unit light which had apparently indicated a fire, setting off extinguishers. "We'd been there for hours when they tried to start the engines again but the APU light came back on so they went back to the (terminus) for more work," the passenger said.

"Then we were told the crew had run out of duty hours. We were on the plane for seven hours before they put us in hotels. "There were a lot of people on the plane very angry about the way this was handled."

The flight was to have arrived today at 8.30am but will now arrive in Sydney at 6.30am tomorrow.

A note to passengers stated there had been an "electrical issue" which required replacement parts not available locally. A spokesman for Qantas confirmed the electrical fault last night but said passengers were left on the tarmac for four-and-a-half hours, not seven.

SOURCE

2010-12-07T09:31:00.001+10:00

QANTAS: The "must not complain" airline?

Complaints are valuable feedback and should not be penalized

A TRAINEE flight attendant has accused Qantas of sacking her for complaining about inadequate counselling after a mid-air emergency. Jessie Holgersson, 25, watched in horror as the engine outside her window on a Boeing 747-400 flight suffered an explosive engine blowout last month.

Flames burst from the engine shortly after take-off, forcing QF6 to make an emergency landing in Singapore just a day after the engine on a Qantas A380 had blown apart mid-flight.

Despite the seriousness of the incident, which required passengers to go into the brace position, Ms Holgersson complained that no counselling was provided until 9pm the following day. "I was terrified when I realised there was a problem. It was a scary moment," she said.

"Seeing flames out the window is not something you expect on your second training flight, but I stayed calm, I reassured passengers, I yelled out my commands, I did everything by the textbook."

Once safely back in Sydney she spoke to the Qantas cabin crew manager, saying she felt staff had been neglected immediately after the incident.

A week later she was called up by Julia Ross Limited, a recruiting firm Qantas uses to hire and train cabin crew for its UK division, and told they'd decided not to continue with her employment.

"If I'd run around screaming, sure, fire me - but I didn't," said Ms Holgersson, who quit a well-paying job, cancelled her lease, sold her belongings and finalised plans to move to London.

Solicitor Sian Ryan, from Turner Freeman Lawyers, is taking the case to Fair Work Australia next week claiming that Ms Holgersson was adversely treated by Qantas and Julia Ross for exercising her workplace right to complain about the failure to address a health and safety issue. "Jessica is a young woman who due to bad fortune ended up in a terrible situation in the early days of a new job," Ms Ryan said. "We will be arguing the reason her employment didn't go ahead was because she raised matters relating to the QF6 incident."

A Qantas spokeswoman denied the allegations yesterday: "Based on her performance and behaviours during the training phase, the decision was made not to offer her employment."

But a report from Qantas supervisor Brian Lynch, who was on the plane, applauded Ms Holgersson for doing a "fantastic job" during the emergency - and warned it would be a "great shame" if Qantas lost her. He wrote: "Would love Jessica to be in my team again one day."

SOURCE

2010-12-07T09:10:00.001+10:00

Jetstar hits family with levy after baby dies suddenly during family holiday

But publicity produces a much more accommodating communication.

JETSTAR yesterday demanded that a distraught family whose baby died of SIDS during a holiday on the Gold Coast pay more than $600 to return a day early to Sydney.

The family of five was spending a week's holiday at the tourist destination when the infant died suddenly, The Australian reported. They were due to return to Sydney today.

When the four remaining members of the family tried to change their bookings to return home yesterday, they were told they would require proof the baby had died or they would be forced to pay the difference in fares and change fees upfront.

Relative Barry Phillips, who travelled to Queensland to accompany the family back to Sydney, said the four family members had to pay more than $160 each. "They reckon they needed to prove that the baby died to change their flight," he said. Mr Phillips said he believed the airline should make it easier for bereaved people to change their flights.

A Jetstar spokeswoman said last night the family would be fully reimbursed for the fare difference and the change fees. "We deeply sympathise with our passengers in such situations and seek to be as flexible and accommodating as possible," she said.

"If documentation is unable to be provided at the time, change fees and fare difference applies. However, the amount is fully reimbursed once the documentation is provided." The spokeswoman said the airline would contact the family.

Jetstar also provides a voucher to passengers no longer able to travel for the amount of the fare originally purchased.

SOURCE

2010-12-04T10:35:00.001+10:00

Hilarious! Superjumbos can now carry only 80 passengers!

QANTAS is alleging in a multi-million-dollar damages claim against Rolls-Royce that it could now carry only 80 passengers across the Pacific in its Airbus 380s, under new operating rules for their troubled engines.

The airline states in Federal Court papers that it bought the Airbus superjumbos because they would carry 450 passengers and a payload of 60,900kg from Australia to Los Angeles.

But the new rules imposed by Rolls-Royce since one of its Trent 900 engines exploded on a Qantas A380 near Singapore last month mean that the world's biggest passenger jet is not a commercial proposition on the airline's Australia-US route. Qantas, which has suspended the route, has asked for damages and costs.

The national carrier is also seeking a declaration from the court ordering the UK engine maker to fund a $1 million credit note relating to a guarantee against "uncontained engine failure" - to stop engine parts perforating the outer shield of an engine. Rolls-Royce is accused of negligence and breach of contract.

Qantas says in its statement of claim that Rolls-Royce continued to modify the Trent 900 engine, but left 23 engines on its big jets unmodified. At the time of the Singapore incident only one engine had been modified.

Meanwhile the nation's top air safety investigator has lauded pilots who landed the faulty Qantas Airbus in Singapore, saying they saved the lives of all the 469 people on board QF32 on November 4.

A preliminary report yesterday confirmed an oil leak as the most likely cause of last month's Qantas A380 engine failure over Indonesia's Batam Island. The leak caused pieces of the Rolls-Royce engine to shear off, penetrating the aircraft's left wing and sections of the fuselage.

Capt Richard Champion de Crespigny and the four other officers safely landed the aircraft under the power of its remaining engines. ATSB chief commissioner Martin Dolan said the cool-headed reaction of the pilots prevented a catastrophic accident. "The aircraft would not have arrived safely in Singapore without the focused and effective action of the flight crew," he said.

SOURCE

2010-12-02T18:42:00.000+10:00

A380 problems continue

QANTAS will conduct more detailed inspections of its A380 Rolls-Royce engines after Australian air safety investigators issued a new safety alert.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) issued the alert today after identifying a potential manufacturing defect concerning an oil tube connection to the bearing structure of the Trent 900 engines installed in some A380 aircraft.

The problem relates to the potential for misaligned oil pipe counter-boring, which could lead to fatigue cracking, oil leakage and potential engine failure from an oil fire. The issue has been found in the first series of the Rolls Royce Trent 900 engines and airlines which use these parts will be required to undergo further examination. It is believed to be the cause of the dramatic engine failure onboard QF32 on November 4.

Qantas grounded its entire A380 fleet after the incident but has since returned two planes to the skies.

One-off inspections will be conducted on both of the airline's A380 aircraft in Sydney this afternoon. The inspections are not expected to impact on international services, however Qantas says it has contingency arrangements in place if needed. “After discussions with the Australian Transport and Safety Bureau (ATSB) and Rolls-Royce, it was decided it was prudent to conduct further inspections of engine components, although there is no immediate risk to flight safety,” Qantas said. “This is in line with Qantas’ conservative, safety first approach.”

Turbine fragments flew out of the QF32’s engine when it exploded in mid-air last month, severing cables in the wing, narrowly missing the fuel tank and taking out flight control systems, a preliminary report by Airbus found.

The pilots were forced to deal with an "unprecedented" number of issues during the two-hour ordeal, Vice President of the Australian and International Pilots Association, Richard Woodward, said.

The ATSB will release its preliminary factual investigation report into the QF32 incident tomorrow.

SOURCE

2010-11-30T13:45:00.001+10:00

Another Qantas 'glitch' delays England cricket team

The faults sure keep coming quick and fast

THE Engish cricket team has been delayed in Brisbane this morning due to a mechanical glitch with their Qantas plane.

Fast bowler James Anderson tweeted: "Flight has been delayed due to a mechanical problem with the plane. I would rather them change the aircraft than say it will take 20 mins to fix." Beanpole paceman Steven Finn was more succinct. "Nervous!" he tweeted.

The team finally took off 70 minutes late. "The aircraft had a minor technical issue. It was a hydraulic fault," a Qantas spokesman said. "The plane was left there and passengers put on another flight."

The cricketers will now arrive at Adelaide, venue of this week's second Ashes Test, 55 minutes late.

SOURCE

2010-11-30T09:05:00.001+10:00

Another mechanical fault stops a Qantas flight

PASSENGERS were forced off a Qantas plane bound for Sydney this morning after a brake problem. Heraldsun.com.au believes the 208 passengers waited for 50 minutes on the tarmac at Melbourne Airport as engineers assessed the plane.

The embattled airline's latest problem comes just two days after a stray rock-climbing rope jammed in the baggage conveyor. Some passengers were told they could search through trolleys to find their lost bags.

This morning's flight was due to leave Melbourne at 6.30am (AEDT). A Qantas spokeswoman said the passengers were being put on other flights. "The plane will be in service this afternoon," the spokeswoman said. "This is a really minor issue. "I don't have the statistics on how often this kind of thing happens."

The spokeswoman said travellers had no reason to worry about flying with Qantas. "We will always put safety before schedule," she said.

Qantas has employed couriers to return up to 400 items of luggage to passengers after Sunday's baggage malfunction at Melbourne Airport.

Sydney-bound passengers were told they could walk on to the Sydney Airport tarmac to search through trolleys of missing bags if they signed a form and donned a yellow vest.

SOURCE

2010-11-29T23:55:00.002+10:00

QANTAS blots its copybook again

A customer reports on a drawn-out baggage bungle:

The day of my flight was the day after the A380 engine incident. Whist at the airport I was interviewed by Channel 7 asking me if I was at all worried about my flight. I told them I was like 'Rain Man' and only liked to fly Qantas, that I was more worried about my connecting flight with Aeromexico to Guadalajara.

I checked my bags in 3 hours before my flight as requested. When I was boarding my flight the scanner beeped after reading my ticket. I was pulled aside by a Qantas staff member and asked if I had my bags checked in. I told him that I had checked them several hours ago and also informed him that I was going to a 300 year old Hacienda in the middle of Mexico and that I needed my bags to be on board as well as I needed to get that flight because I had a conference to attend.

When I landed in LA my bags were not there. The Qantas representative who was a US citizen told me that my bags were still in Sydney and assured me they would be sent to my hotel. I informed him that I was not staying in a city luxury hotel, that my Hacienda was 2 hours away from Guadalajara airport and was not easy to find. He guaranteed me that I would have my luggage in 24 hours.

Over the next 2 days my husband had several conversations with Qantas 'Customer Service'. He was told that I could purchase some clothing and Qantas would refund me the cost of new clothing. There were no shops and there were no ATM machines anywhere near me. 4 days after I boarded the plane I received a phone call from Guadalajara airport saying I had just 1.5 hours to collect my luggage or it would be shipped back to Australia as unclaimed baggage. I had been wearing the same underwear and clothing for 4 days. I had had enough.

I got to the airport, not knowing any Spanish and had to try to find someone who could help me sort the situation out. I was led to a room where my luggage was, unfortunately on my way out of Customs for the second time I was told that I couldn't go through. I had already given the Customs officer the proper papers a few days earlier and the Customs officer said that without that paperwork I couldn't enter Mexico again.

I got back to my Hacienda and demanded that someone from Qantas call me. Finally I spoke to someone who was actually Australian who guaranteed me that Qantas would make arrangements to make my trip home better, at the very least I was offered to enter the Business Class lounge. When I checked in at LAX there was no such information on my booking. I didn't get an upgrade nor did I get to enter the Business Class lounge as promised.

After 2 weeks of dealing with Qantas and having my holiday totally ruined by their lack of customer service I have decided to revoke my membership of their frequent flyer programme. I will be contacting channel 7 to do a follow up story on their lack of customer service, and I have decided that from now on I'll be a Virgin customer.

SOURCE

2010-11-28T09:57:00.001+10:00

Can QANTAS get ANYTHING right?

The lack of maintenance really shows. Thank goodness the latest engine failure took place while the plane was still on the ground

AS Qantas staged a major PR exercise to mark the return of its A380 fleet to service, another plane from Sydney, a 747, was grounded last night with engine failure. The flight, QF1 from Sydney to London, was due to leave at 6.05pm - but passengers were pulled off the plane after a loud noise emanated from the engine while they were taxiing towards the runway. The flight was later cancelled.

Earlier, passengers watched as Qantas CEO Alan Joyce staged a media conference to assure the public the company was now "100 per cent confident" A380 planes were safe. To prove the point, Mr Joyce flew the Singapore leg on the first A380 plane to return to service since the fleet was grounded three weeks ago when an engine exploded on a flight from Singapore.

But while passengers on the A380 flight to London got away on time, passengers on board flight QF1 to London via Bangkok were pulled off their flight because of an engine fault. "The aircraft was taxiing to the runway and the pilot had an indication of an issue with one of the engines, and following procedures it returned to the bay," a Qantas spokesman said. The passengers disembarked about 7pm and were given meal vouchers, while engineers examined the engine. But at 9pm they were told the flight was cancelled.

It was expected to leave at 9am today.A passenger on the plane told The Sunday Telegraph he could hear the engine die. "We were on the tarmac and then the captain said there was a mechanical problem; he said there was an electrical fault and that every time they tried to start the engine up it cut out," he said. "We sat for 45 minutes and then they took us off the plane."

He said many passengers were annoyed the A380 flight, with Mr Joyce on board, left on time while they were stuck.

But as the passengers boarded the 5.30pm A380 QF31 flight to London earlier, they expressed concerns. Claudia Clegg, 28, from Lilyfield said she was far from happy to be on board the first flight to return to service since the November 4 incident.

On board QF31 for her honeymoon with husband Jonathan, she said she was feeling "anxious" and was not happy to be flying an A380. "I've been following the story," Mrs Clegg said. "I received an email from the CEO two days ago saying they were pleased to announce that the A380 was going to start flying again and that I would be on the first flight. "They said the CEO would be on the flight but that does not make me feel any better."

But Lesley Arena, 28, from Bondi, said she had no doubts the flight would be uneventful. "I'm sure that if it wasn't safe they wouldn't put it up at all," she said.

Mr Joyce said 16 Qantas A380 engines would have to be replaced, and two engines on yesterday's aircraft had already been replaced.

The captain of yesterday's flight, David Evans, who was part of the cockpit crew onboard flight QF32, said as "a precaution" Qantas had decided to use "reduced thrust" on the engines for the initial flights. [Not exactly a vote of confidence!]

SOURCE

2010-11-26T15:50:00.000+10:00

Jetstar fires safety whistleblower

The usual Jetstar bloodymindedness. They sure hate criticism

JETSTAR has accused a former employee who publicly raised concerns the airline's cost-cutting methods of misleading the public with "numerous untruths".

First Officer Joe Eakins, 31, was fired after criticising the airline’s plan to hire air crews based in Singapore "on wages well below their Australian-based colleagues" and what effect this would have on passenger safety.

His concerns were outlined in an article published last month and he was sacked for breaching company policy of speaking publicly about the airline.

"I am shocked and saddened they have chosen to react this way," he told the Herald Sun. "I've been a good employee and I'm shocked any company would sack an employee for raising their concerns about safety and industrial issues, especially in the airline industry."

However Jetstar has hit back at his claims, saying they are “untrue”. "The employee chose to publicly make incorrect accusations on multiple and separate occasions against Jetstar with the effect of misleading the travelling public," the airline said in a statement.

The budget carrier said it sought to resolve the issue with Mr Eakins "on numerous occasions but there was no engagement, nor acknowledgement, than an issued existed".

Jetstar Australia and New Zealand Chief Executive Officer David Hall said the airline has a healthy culture across its which encourages all employees to report and discuss any issues and concerns in relation to safety. “We will never, nor have, taken action against any employee for raising safety concerns - we welcome genuine engagement regarding safety from any part of our workforce - without fear or favour,” Mr Hall said.

“In the past, and moving forward, our pilots based in Singapore achieve better take home pay in comparison to our Australian pilots. “Assertions of a 50 per cent discrepancy in pilot pay between Australia and Singapore or circumvention of existing industrial law are patently false.

Mr Eakins has been contacted for comment regarding Jetstar's allegations.

The Australian and International Pilots Association says it has consulted lawyers over the incident and will take action via Fair Work Australia. Association president Barry Jackson described Mr Eakins as a whistleblower and hero to the Australian aviation community and vowed to "take this as far as we can". "Joe's bravery in blowing the whistle on some of these practices has been rewarded by an unfair dismissal," Mr Jackson said.

Mr Eakins said in his article that the Australian aviation sector "is at a crossroads". "Not only are the dreams of the youngsters who look skyward at risk, but the institutions that created our reputation for safety through well trained experienced pilots is under threat, which is bad news for all Australians."

Earlier this month a Jetstar training captain also questioned the airline's training methods and resources. Geoff Klouth, a Jetstar pilot for four years and commercial pilot since 1987, outlined his concerns at a senate inquiry into aviation training and standards. He said that as a result some flight attendants have completed their training without having operated on the airline’s A321 aircraft, leaving them unsure how to “arm” the doors.

"They have been unable to 'arm' doors. Arming the doors is necessary to allow for the automatic deployment of the emergency escape slide if the aircraft has to be evacuated," he said in his submission.

Klouth also raised concern about the increasing number of flight attendants who are based in Singapore and Bangkok yet operate domestically on international flights. “The foreign based crew all speak English but the ability to be understood in an emergency is an aspect of their training that is not effectively assessed.”

He said the increasing pressure airlines are under to cut costs may threaten air safety. “The CEO of Jetstar requires a ten percent reduction in the airline costs per year. In a safety sensitive industry this will result in a reduction of the safety margins that have contributed to Australia’s aviation safety record.

SOURCE

2010-11-22T14:26:00.001+10:00

Fault delays another Qantas flight

A QANTAS flight from Frankfurt to Sydney had to be grounded in Singapore after engineers found a hydraulics system fault on Saturday evening.

The problem was found just before about 400 passengers began reboarding the Boeing 747, which was on a two-hour stop at Changi Airport. A spokeswoman for Qantas - which has endured a spate of mechanical incidents in past weeks, including the grounding of its fleet of A380s - said pilots had not noticed the fault during the flight from Germany.

"The problem came to light when engineers did their pre-flight checks, and there was no issue on the flight from Frankfurt," she said. "The passengers were put up in a hotel overnight and will travel to Sydney on the same plane and the overnight delay was caused by our engineers having to source a part." The flight, QF6, was due to take off at 12.35am today.

In recent weeks Qantas has suffered four midair incidents serious enough to require planes to return to their departure cities.

An Airbus A380 and Boeing 747 both returned to Singapore after engine failures. Another 747 returned to Sydney after smoke appeared in the cockpit and last Wednesday a bird strike forced another 747 to return to Johannesburg.

SOURCE

2010-11-20T12:27:00.000+10:00

Jetstar: 'If you don't like it, get off the f---ing plane'

I notice that Jetstar is running a competition for travel stories. Here's mine, which I doubt will win. It is a true story.

I was flying from Christchurch to Melbourne. I am 60 and a regular flyer, but I have never faced such aggression from cabin crew nor have I seen it directed at anyone else.

I was sitting in the front row, boarded last and found the luggage bins near my seat full. The attendant asked me to hang onto my bag for a minute. When he came to take it he said he would put it down the back.

I asked how I would get it when we landed, he said I'd have to wait until everyone deplaned. I said I'd prefer to have the bag closer. He said: "If you don't f---ing like it get off the f---ing plane." When I wrote and complained to Jetstar I received a $7 gift voucher, which can only be redeemed if I book another Jetstar flight. As if.

Qantas running on empty

On the same day as the Qantas A380 mid-air explosion, I flew from Los Angeles on QF16 non-stop to Brisbane. Early in the morning the captain announced that we did not have sufficient fuel to land in Brisbane and we'd be diverting to Noumea to top up.

There was also insufficient food on board. Several passengers did not receive the overnight goody bag and, after leaving Noumea, there were not enough breakfasts. This meant that some passengers had little or nothing to eat after the dinner service shortly after leaving LA, a period of about 17 hours, given the diversion.

These incidents are a lot less significant than the A380 engine explosion but I believe they do speak of a general disintegration of Qantas service standards on every level.

There are several daily non-stop Qantas flights between LA and Brisbane. How can it be that our flight ran short of fuel? Qantas has shown no interest in answering this question.

Big men not catered for on Qantas A380s

As noted in Flight Test (Traveller, November 6), the arm rests in economy on the Qantas A380 don't come all the way up. Having paid for an extra seat, for more space, my money was wasted.

SOURCE

2010-11-19T12:11:00.002+10:00

'Unprecedented' number of failures on ill-fated Qantas A380 flight

Another very close "near miss" for Qantas

NEW details have emerged revealing just how close Qantas flight QF32 came to disaster earlier this month.

Turbine fragments flew out of the plane’s engine when it exploded in mid-air, severing cables in the wing, narrowly missing the fuel tank and taking out flight control systems during the November 4 incident, according to a preliminary report by Airbus.

The pilots were forced to deal with an "unprecedented" number of issues during the two-hour ordeal, Vice President of the Australian and International Pilots Association, Richard Woodward, said. "The amount of failures is unprecedented,'' Mr Woodward, a Qantas A380 pilot who has spoken to all five pilots told the Associated Press. “There is probably a one in 100 million chance to have all that go wrong.''

The Federal Secretary of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association, Steve Purvanis, has emphasised just how lucky the passengers were to survive the incident. "Definitely with fuel gushing out of the fuel tank there and some very hot components, certainly one that was hot enough to explode an engine, they were very lucky that fuel inside the wing didn't ignite," he told ABC News. "The passengers and crew on board were probably unaware of how serious the situation was. "I would say from the pictures that I've seen that they're very lucky to be alive today."

The pilots were hit with one problem after another during the ordeal. With the engine on fire, the pilots struggled to deploy the fire suppression system. The wing’s two fuel tanks were punctured and fuel was leaking out, creating a growing imbalance between the left and right sides of the plane. However the pilots were prevented from pumping fuel forward from tanks in the tail due to electrical problems, which saw the plane become tail heavy.

Safety investigators say that this may have been the greatest risk - if the plane had become too unbalanced it could have stalled and crashed.

The pilots were also bombarded with a massive number of computer messages alerting them to the current and future system failures. One message warned that the main power system was about to be lost, leaving them with only enough power for vital systems - “the last thing you need in that kind of situation”.

“I don't think any crew in the world would have been trained to deal with the amount of different issues this crew faced,'' Mr Woodward said.

Luckily, there were five experienced pilots onboard the plane with a total of 100 years of flying experience between them. Among them was Captain Richard De Crespigny, who flew the plane while the other pilots dealt with the computer alarms and made announcements to the passengers.

However even when the runway was in sight the problems were not over, with the wing flaps and landing gear doors inoperable. The pilots were forced to use gravity to lower the gear.

The aircraft suffered several flat tyres during the landing as brake temperatures reached over 900 degrees Celsius.

It is likely that for some of the problems there were no procedures because no airline anticipates so many things going wrong at once, John Goglia, a former National Transportation Safety Board member said.

The airline has kept its entire A380 fleet grounded since the incident. It was announced yesterday that over 40 Rolls-Royce engines on A380 fleets worldwide will need to be replaced following the incidents, with up to 14 Qantas engines needing to be inspected and potentially replaced.

SOURCE

2010-11-18T11:50:00.001+10:00

New engines for Qantas superjumbos

ABOUT 40 Rolls-Royce engines on the world's A380 fleet will need to be replaced, Qantas chief says. This would represent about half of all Rolls-Royce engines on A380 planes that are currently in service.

Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce said the move was to ensure safety after one of the airline's engines broke apart mid-flight earlier this month, Reuters reports. Mr Joyce said the airline is in talks with Airbus to replace some of its existing Rolls-Royce engines with new engines from planes still in production on the Airbus assembly line.

"We've been talking to Airbus and Rolls-Royce and we understand that the number (of engines to be replaced) is around 40," Mr Joyce said. "We've already replaced three and there could be more."

Qantas has been plagued with issues since grounding its fleet of Airbus A380s after an engine explosion on November 4 forced an emergency landing in Singapore.

Yesterday one of the airline's Boeing 747 planes bound for Sydney was forced to turn back to Johannesburg after one of its engines suffered a bird strike.

On Tuesday one of Qantas' smaller Boeing 717s was hit by lightning on a regional flight between the destinations of Alice Springs and Darwin hours earlier, causing "minor damage" to the exterior.

The incidents follow the return to Sydney of a Qantas Boeing 747 bound for Buenos Aires on Monday after it suffered an electrical fault which caused smoke to pour into the cockpit.

Qantas refuses to confirm reports its A380 fleet will not return to operation until next month.

Both Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa have inspected the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines on their A380 fleet and have returned the planes to service.

SOURCE

2010-11-17T09:23:00.001+10:00

Jetstar flight hit by mechanical problem

A JETSTAR Airbus has been forced to return to Brisbane due to a mechanical problem soon after take off. A hydraulic system malfunctioned on the Airbus A320 early into the flight to Mackay around 4pm yesterday, Jetstar's head of corporate relations, Simon Westaway, said.

"We had a burst of hydraulic fluid," he said. "One of the systems was losing hydraulic fluid. "For safety reasons, the flight returned to Brisbane. "It was a standard return and the aircraft was under full control of the pilot at all times."

The flight, JQ 888, landed without incident, and none of the 164 passengers was injured. They are being put on alternative flights and Jetstar was to put on an extra service to Mackay tonight.

Mr Westaway said the A320s have three hydraulic systems and investigations are under way to discover which one failed. He said it could have been the landing gear.

Mr Westaway said the incident should be kept in perspective, especially in light of recent issues Jetstar's parent company Qantas has had with its A380s this month. "Safety is paramount and we operate very safe operations," Mr Westaway he said.

Qantas grounded its flagship Airbus A380 long-range aircraft after an engine exploded on a flight from Singapore to Sydney on November 4.

Since then a Qantas Boeing 747 on its way to Argentina was forced to return to Sydney after smoke was released into the cockpit and a domestic flight from Perth to Melbourne had to return after flight crew became aware of a vibration in one engine of the Boeing 767.

SOURCE

2010-11-16T11:42:00.001+10:00

Qantas calls in flying doctors for A380 'hospital line'

QANTAS will have an Airbus A380 superjumbo in the air by the end of the month - a new plane Airbus is due to deliver in France in the next fortnight.

But the other six aircraft remain out of service - one damaged and impounded by air investigators in Singapore after the midair engine explosion on November 4, and the other five grounded while engine checks and technical examinations continue.

Qantas is establishing what it calls a "hospital line" to manage the checking, dismantling, upgrading and reinstalling the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines from the aircraft, said Qantas's chief executive, Alan Joyce.

Airbus has announced that Rolls-Royce has a kit to bring older Trent 900s up to date with the latest version coming off its production line. "The engines, when we take them off, will essentially go through a 'hospital line', which is an intense program that will look at fixing these components on the engine," Mr Joyce said.

Rolls-Royce has been making running modifications to the design, manufacturing and assembly of the engine's components, including the component believed to be at the centre of the midair explosion, a gear bearing and its oil supply system.

Qantas first has to identify what version of the engines it has, what problems the engine might exhibit and determine what components need upgrading to bring the engines up to the latest specification.

"When we identify that there's an engine that is a problem engine, that engine will be taken off-wing, and that engine will go through a program that puts those [latest] modifications back on it," Mr Joyce said. "We have the aircraft on the ground so we're obviously taking engines off, as we speak. Rolls will be then telling us what the program is to get them through the 'mod program' [of technical updates] and this 'hospital' review.

"We need to have the plan from Rolls about when this can be done, when the components can be done, when the components can be provided."

Work will be done in Rolls-Royce's engine facilities - one in Hong Kong and one in Britain. Engines will be airfreighted to the workshops from the grounded planes, two in Sydney and three in Los Angeles. They will then be modified and flown back for re-installation.

"We don't know at this stage what that time-frame's going to be," Mr Joyce said. "That means we can't be definitive when the aircraft will be back in the air."

There is also likely to be a shortage of the special cranes that lift and move the engines from the wings.

The latest industry estimate is that about 20 engines in the Singapore Airlines fleet, as many as 14 in the Qantas fleet and two in Lufthansa's fleet will need to be upgraded. Singapore Airlines is particularly affected, having received more early versions of the engine, Mr Joyce said.

Even the new A380, the seventh in Qantas's fleet, will still be subjected to the same airworthiness directives from the European Aviation Safety Agency as the other Rolls-Royce engines in the A380 fleet, which requires engines to be inspected by their 10th flight and every 20 flights thereafter.

Qantas is due to receive its eighth A380 next month and its ninth in January, so it should have at least one in the skies for Oprah Winfrey's tour to Australia.

Airbus has said Rolls-Royce is completing a software patch that would shut down an engine automatically in flight if it sensed anomalies to its normal operating conditions. The new A380 will be fitted with the latest version of the Trent 900 engine and the safety shutdown software.

Mr Joyce said that the Civil Aviation Safety Authority was also involved in the process of returning the aircraft to the skies. He said Rolls-Royce would not put Qantas at the back of the queue for new engines, even if Singapore Airlines needs a larger number of engine replacements or upgrades.

"We did all testing before anybody else did. Other airlines were clearing their fleets to fly. "We said 'no', we'd found problems. And when we found the problems we were requesting spare engines, so we were in there first; it was one of the advantages of the process that we've done."

Rolls-Royce has provided scant information to the public about how it is handling the engine explosion and the fallout, leaving the explanations to the airlines and airframe manufacturer.

Some industry insiders say it has adopted the strategy of BP in its handling of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico: say as little as you can and it will all go away.

SOURCE

2010-11-15T16:58:00.001+10:00

Qantas flight turns back after 'electrical issue'

A Qantas flight from Sydney to Buenos Aires has been forced to turn back after experiencing electrical problems.

The incident comes nine days after a Qantas aircraft made an emergency landing at Singapore airport when one of its engines disintegrated over Indonesia.

A statement from Qantas said that flight QF17, operated by a Boeing 747 and carrying 199 passengers, departed from Sydney Kingsford Smith at 11:11am. The aircraft suffered "an issue with the electrical system" and landed safely back at 1:22pm, the statement said.

Reports from Australian media said that the plane, which was also carrying three flight crew and 18 cabin crew, had to dump fuel before it landed. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the electrical problem lead to smoke in the cockpit.

One passenger told the paper's website: "There were no lights, no entertainment, only the emergency panels were on," "We were pretty bloody concerned."

No one was injured during the incident, Qantas said. Engineers are investigating the cause of the problem.

The incident is the latest piece of bad news for the Australian carrier, which celebrated its 90th birthday last week under a cloud of concern over the safety of its fleet of A380 superjumbos.

The string of mid-air emergencies has dented Qantas's reputation as the safest airline in the world. The company has never suffered a fatal crash.

SOURCE

2010-11-15T12:17:00.000+10:00

Investigator questions Jetstar safety

A Jetstar training captain and former air-accident investigator has raised concerns about safety standards at the low-cost airline, saying some cabin crew are not properly trained for emergencies and its safety department is not adequately resourced.

In a submission to a Senate inquiry into aviation training and standards, Geoff Klouth said the airline had reduced the time spent on training new attendants, resulting in some cabin crew completing their courses without operating on its A321 aircraft.

"They have been unable to 'arm' doors. Arming the doors is necessary to allow for the automatic deployment of the emergency escape slide if the aircraft has to be evacuated," he said in his submission.

Mr Klouth, a Jetstar pilot and a former senior investigator at the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, said captains had stood down some flight attendants because of their lack of safety training for the A321s, which was a "symptom of the reduction [by Jetstar] in resources and training".

A Jetstar spokesman, Simon Westaway, said the airline demanded its flight attendants meet the highest of safety standards and this had been the case since it was launched in 2003. "We require a very high standard … and we stand by the training regime we have in place," he said. "We have sound resourcing right across the business, including in our safety department."

Mr Klouth was a fleet investigator in Jetstar's safety department when one of its aircraft made an aborted landing in Melbourne on June 21, 2007. Although he said there was not a "deliberate attempt to conceal information", there were "no protocols that required the ATSB to be informed of subsequent information" about the incident. His role as a fleet investigator was a part-time position as he was also a first officer.

Mr Klouth said his investigation into the Melbourne incident was limited by a "lack of resources" in the department. "As a part-time investigator I was not provided with a computer and had to provide my own, and I was not even allocated a desk," he said in the submission. "An airline safety department should be audited, possibly by CASA [the Civil Aviation Safety Authority], to ensure that sufficient resources are provided."

He wants airline safety departments to be forced to send copies of any internal investigation to the safety bureau. "Not all incidents that have been investigated by Jetstar have been reported to the ATSB," he said.

Mr Westaway said the airline provided up to 40 per cent more incident reports to the ATSB than it was required to, and the safety bureau had issued a final report in March about the Melbourne incident. "We stand steadfastly by the safety culture - you only have to look at our record," he said.

SOURCE

2010-11-14T10:59:00.001+10:00

A380 gamble wings Qantas

A QUEST by Qantas to become an early operator of the troubled Airbus A380 aircraft to help stave off competition from its rivals has backfired, experts believe.

The purchase of 20 super-jumbos, at a price of $332 million each, goes against Qantas's previously conservative buying practices, a senior aviation source said. He said the airline would traditionally wait for teething problems to be fixed before buying new models. "Qantas wanted to … be the first and the fastest. It had to buy the A380 to compete with Singapore Airlines [the first airline to offer an A380 service] on similar routes."

Rolls-Royce, which makes the Trent 900 engines for Qantas's A380s, has admitted responsibility for two engine failures and other faults that have grounded the airline's six superjumbos since November 4, but not before Qantas suffered huge financial losses and blemishes on its safety record.

Qantas would not confirm if it planned to pursue a multimillion-dollar warranty and damages claim against Rolls-Royce even though the manufacturer admitted modifying its new Trent 900 engines to address a potentially dangerous oil leak.

The British company confirmed an oil fire on QF32 had led to the disintegration of a turbine disc above the Indonesian island of Batam. An airline spokesman said yesterday compensation "was not on the radar at this stage" while it was working closely with Rolls-Royce to modify the engines.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said yesterday he refused to rush the A380s back into service. "We're not going to rush anybody, we're not going to be putting a deadline on it. We're going to make sure it's absolutely right before we have this aircraft start flying again," he said.

The airline has suffered four in-flight or pre-flight mishaps since the engine on a Singapore-Sydney A380 flight failed 10 days ago. Another flight from Singapore to Sydney, of a Boeing 747-400, was also forced to turn back with engine failure, and yesterday a Sydney-to-Melbourne flight was temporarily grounded with a mechanical fault.

Richard Woodward, an A380 captain and vice-president of the Australian and International Pilots Association, said Qantas was a "victim" in the Rolls-Royce engine drama. "It is a customer of Rolls-Royce and had trust in its long association with that company," Captain Woodward said. "Qantas is a victim in some ways and will just have to wear it for the time being."

The airline has acknowledged that, despite its strong reputation for safety, the latest engine dramas would have an effect.

Qantas management was also watching developments with the new-generation Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft to be powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines. In August, a Trent 1000 exploded in a British test lab.

On Tuesday, a Dreamliner was forced to make an emergency landing during a test flight after a small fire in an equipment bay. Qantas has ordered 50 Dreamliners.

The Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association said Qantas would suffer continuing operational issues because Rolls-Royce maintained the Trent 900 engines.

SOURCE

2010-11-13T10:33:00.001+10:00

Qantas grounds Perth flight after more engine problems

QANTAS has been involved in yet another mid-air mishap, with passengers on their way to Melbourne from Perth forced to return after engine problems. The flight had to return to Perth Domestic Airport after the crew detected a vibration in the left-hand engine of the Boeing 767. The plane landed safely and the 234 passengers on board would be flown to Melbourne on other Qantas flights.

The incident is the latest in a series of sky-high dramas that have plagued Qantas and seriously damaged its safety reputation and brand.

The airline last week grounded its fleet of six Airbus SAS A380s after an engine in one exploded mid-air over Indonesia on November 4, forcing an emergency landing in Singapore with 466 people on board. A day later, a Qantas 747 jumbo jet was forced to return to Singapore after flames erupted from one of its engines. A third Qantas aircraft made a priority landing at Heathrow Airport in London on November 5 after problems with its hydraulic fuel system.

The Boeing plane involved in the latest incident from Perth had GE engines.

Rolls-Royce, the makers of the A380 engine, was tonight expected to announce it had worked out solutions to the engine problems grounding the six Qantas superjumbos.

Singapore Airlines have also grounded its A380 planes while the Australian Transport and Safety Bureau investigate the explosion over Indonesia.

Qantas has embarked on a series of cost-cutting measures as the airline industry struggles in the wake of the global financial crisis.

It has undertaken massive staff reductions, cut back on customer service and in-flight catering and outsourced its maintenance work offshore as it struggles to retain profits and boost its share price.

SOURCE

2010-11-12T12:22:00.001+10:00

Qantas 'scarebus' QF32 was a flying wreck -- a hairsbreadth from disaster

We now see how brilliant was the job done by the pilot in landing the aircraft safely. Up there with Chesley Sullenberger. Singapore's superb Changi airport also deserves some credit for having a full 4km runway

Last week's mid-air emergency off Singapore also badly damaged a wing, which may have to be replaced. A full list of the damage to the Airbus A380 has been revealed after it was nursed back to Singapore on three engines.

When it touched down the fuel systems were failing, the forward spar supporting the left wing had been holed and one of the jet's two hydraulic systems was knocked out and totally drained of fluid.

Sources compared flight QF32 to the Memphis Belle, the World War II bomber that became the subject of a fictional award-winning 1990s Hollywood movie by the same name. The film portrayed the heavily damaged aircraft landing in England after a bombing raid on Germany.

Richard Woodward, vice-president of the International Air Pilots' Federation, told the Herald Sun yesterday that the lesson from the near disaster was the value of an experienced flight crew.

"There was a wealth of experience in the cockpit, even the lowest ranked officer on board had thousands of hours of experience in his former role as a military flying instructor," said Capt Woodward, himself an A380 pilot on leave from Qantas.

As another senior pilot said: "It is bad enough for an engine to explode in mid-air let alone lose so many secondary systems".

Investigators found shrapnel damage to the flaps, a huge hole in the upper surface of the left wing and a generator that was not working.

The crew could not shutdown the No. 1 engine using the fire switch. As a result the engine's fire extinguishers could not be deployed.

Captain Richard de Crespigny, first officer Matt Hicks and Mark Johnson, the second officer, could not jettison the volume of fuel required for a safe emergency landing.

With more than 80 tonnes of highly volatile jet kerosene still in the 11 tanks -- two of which were leaking - they made an overweight and high speed approach to Changi Airport.

Without full hydraulics the spoilers - the hinged flaps on the front of the wings - could not be fully deployed to slow the jet. The crew also had to rely on gravity for the undercarriage to drop and lock into place.

On landing they had no anti-skid brakes and could rely on only one engine for reverse thrust - needing all of the 4km runway at Changi to bring the jet to a stop.

The three crew have been interviewed by Australian investigators and cleared to return to duties.

Industry sources said the damage will almost certainly put the airline's flagship jet - the Nancy-Bird Walton - out of service for months.

Investigators found that an oil fire may have caused the engine to explode.

Details of the stricken jet's problems were revealed yesterday in an emergency directive by the European Aviation Safety Authority. The authority made it mandatory for airlines with the now suspect Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines to make checks for excess oil. If not detected, excess oil can cause a fire and ultimately result in "uncontained" engine failure, with potential damage to the aeroplane and to people or property on the ground.

Qantas made it clear it will keep its six superjumbos grounded indefinitely and has rearranged flight schedules using substitute aircraft. "The specific checks mandated by the directive were already being carried out by Qantas in conjunction with Rolls-Royce," it said. "Qantas's A380 aircraft will not return to service until there is complete certainty that the fleet can operate safely."

WHAT WENT WRONG ON QF32

1 Massive fuel leak in the left mid fuel tank (there are 11 tanks, including in the horizontal stabiliser on the tail)

2 Massive fuel leak in the left inner fuel tank

3 A hole on the flap fairing big enough to climb through

4 The aft gallery in the fuel system failed, preventing many fuel transfer functions

5 Problem jettisoning fuel

6 Massive hole in the upper wing surface

7 Partial failure of leading edge slats

8 Partial failure of speed brakes/ground spoilers

9 Shrapnel damage to the flaps

10 Total loss of all hydraulic fluid in one of the jet's two systems

11 Manual extension of landing gear

12 Loss of one generator and associated systems

13 Loss of brake anti-skid system

14 No.1 engine could not be shut down in the usual way after landing because of major damage to systems

15 No.1 engine could not be shut down using the fire switch, which meant fire extinguishers would not work on that engine

16 ECAM (electronic centralised aircraft monitor) warnings about the major fuel imbalance (because of fuel leaks on left side) could not be fixed with cross-feeding

17 Fuel was trapped in the trim tank (in the tail)creating a balance problem for landing

18 Left wing forward spar penetrated by debris

SOURCE

2010-11-11T10:27:00.000+10:00

Airport nightmare as ill passenger 'ignored by Jetstar'

Jetstar big on waffle afterwards, though

A SICK and pregnant woman stranded in a Singapore airport says Jetstar repeatedly ignored requests for help after her condition deteriorated during the seven-hour delay. Instead it was left to another passenger on the flight - a doctor - to intervene and advise Antonia Phipps, 30, be urgently removed from the departure gate after being provided with water and a place to lie down.

By that stage Jetstar had run out of water and the couple were kept at the airport for another three hours along with the rest of the passengers.

“My wife and I were extremely disappointed and upset at how staff handled the situation,” Glenn Phipps, 34, said. “They (Jetstar staff) responded regarding the delay in quoting that there were many passengers to look after. I told them that surely my wife was a priority.”

Mrs Phipps, 18 weeks pregnant, contracted a virus in Thailand and was examined in hospital the day before the flight. She was eventually issued with a fit-to-fly certificate and medication for the scheduled flight back to Sydney from Phuket on JQ28.

The stranding happened after the plane developed a problem with both autopilots and was grounded. The problem was compounded when the flight they were rescheduled to fly home on - Qantas flight QF32 on Thursday – made headlines around the world after its engine exploded mid-air the day before and it too was grounded.

Mr Phipps said he didn't contact an ambulance as his wife wouldn't have let him. He said she was trying her best to "tough it out" in front of their daughter. Mr Phipps says Jetstar has now apologised over the incident and offered compensation in the way of flights.

Jetstar spokeswoman Andrea Wait said while the incident was being further investigated the airline has been proactive in addressing the delay. Ms Wait said the airline sought to minimise the impact of the diversion on its customers by providing day and evening accommodation in Singapore and re-booked all passengers onto Qantas and Jetstar services to Sydney.

“In this customer's case, we sought to be as flexible as possible, delaying travel until the customer was able,” she said. “In this situation if a passenger becomes unwell at the airport and requires urgent medical assistance, we will notify the relevant health authorities at that location or direct them to available medical facilities, if appropriate.”

SOURCE

2010-11-09T12:48:00.000+10:00

The "F*** you" airline again

Jetstar passengers forced to sleep in airport

Up to 60 Jetstar customers were forced to sleep on seats at Sydney Airport after storms caused delays to flights, a passenger claims.

The budget airline said it had not received official reports of people being told they had to sleep at the airport, saying it was providing rooms for stranded passengers until 1am (AEDT) this morning.

But Sam Thornton told ABC Radio in Sydney that many travellers were told to sleep on the floor and on seats. "It was just the management's attitude," he said. "They had no accommodation and no access of getting to anywhere - top management came down and I think they really didn't give a damn."

Jetstar communications general manager Simon Westaway said the airline was still "getting clarity" on what happened. "We haven't officially been told of anyone who was told they had to sleep in the airport," he said.

The storms in Sydney last night caused a backlog at several airports across the country. Hundreds of travellers were forced to sleep at Brisbane Airport after Sydney-bound flights were cancelled due to the poor weather.

Severe thunderstorms shut down Sydney Airport from 6pm with no domestic or international flights able to land or take off. Scores of flights to and from the city were cancelled, with many diverted to Brisbane and Melbourne. Five international flights carrying more than 1000 people were diverted to Brisbane.

Brisbane Airport Corporation spokesman Jim Carden said Sydney's 11pm curfew meant four of those services were unable to resume when weather eased about 8.30pm Brisbane time, stranding hundreds of people. Mr Carden was unable to confirm how many passengers had stayed overnight at the airport, but said more than 1000 passengers were affected.

A Qantas spokeswoman said hotels had struggled to cope with so many stranded people. "There was a severe shortage of accommodation in Brisbane so [for] any of our passengers that were unable to find accommodation or return to their homes, we made the Qantas Club lounge available to them," she said. "There were a lot of people in the terminal overnight. Over 1000 people were affected across the country [from all airlines] ... 6pm is not a great time, there's a lot of flights coming in."

Mr Carden said some would have chosen to stay at the airport with the hope of leaving early this morning. "We've been voted one of the best airports to sleep in ... we often find people sleeping there for six, seven hours," he said.

A Virgin Blue spokeswoman said about 800 customers in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne were affected by the storm. She said the airline had been able to accommodate all 200 Brisbane passengers in hotels and put them on new flights this morning.

The Qantas spokeswoman said all passengers from Brisbane had been rebooked on prescheduled flights this morning.

There were reports this morning that some passengers were angry they had not been given promised food vouchers while they waited at Sydney Airport.

SOURCE

2010-11-07T23:40:00.002+10:00

QANTAS superjumbo engine failure MAY have been due to inadequate maintenance

Following is an excerpt from an EU notification which says that Rolls Royce Trent engines have a component with a high wear rate -- and that unusually frequent inspections of the component are therefore required. It specifies that engine failure is likely if this is not done

Wear, beyond Engine Manual limits, has been identified on the abutment faces of the splines on the Trent 900 Intermediate Pressure (IP) shaft rigid coupling on several engines during strip. The shaft to coupling spline interface provides the means of controlling the turbine axial setting and wear through of the splines would permit the IP turbine to move rearwards. Rearward movement of the IP turbine would enable contact with static turbine components and would result in loss of engine performance with potential for in-flight shut down, oil migration and oil fire below the LP turbine discs prior to sufficient indication resulting in loss of LP turbine disc integrity. Some of these conditions present a potential unsafe condition to the aeroplane.

This AD requires inspection of the IP shaft coupling splines and, depending on the results, requires further repetitive inspections or corrective actions. Since issuance of AD 2010-0008 Rolls-Royce has inspected several additional engines subject to IP shaft coupling spline wear. Inspections were carried out on-wing as well as in-shop.

Analysis of the results EASA AD No : 2010-0008R1 EASA Form 110 Page 2/3 provides a better modelling of the wear rate and allow to redefine reinspection periods based on: - average wear measured on each individual engine rather than maximum wear. - individual engine wear rates rather than an assumed worst case rate.

These inspection periods are extended compared to original issue of AD 2010-0008, and are deemed sufficient to prevent unacceptable wear. Effective Date: Revision 1: 18 August 2010 Original issue: 29 January 2010

Source