QANTAS

All posts tagged QANTAS

Last flight of QANTAS Boeing 747-400 VH-OJA

Posted by George Brown on 12/03/2015
Posted in: Aviation, History, News, Transportation. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

QANTAS’ first Boeing 747-400, celebrated for having flown the longest commercial flight in history, made its shortest and final journey when it landed at Illawarra Regional Airport, where it is set to become the Illawarra’s first jumbo tourist attraction.

After less than 15 minutes in flight, the specially numbered QANTAS Flight ‘7474’, scheduled to touch down at 7:47 am, was delivered to its new home at YWOL with the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) where it will become the only B747-400 in the world to be put on public display. QANTAS Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce said donating the aircraft to the HARS museum will provide not only a great tourist attraction for the Illawarra region, but also an opportunity to preserve an important piece of QANTAS’ and aviation history.

“Having graced the pages of the record books, revolutionised air travel for Australians, marked a huge technical feat for QANTAS and carried millions of passengers on their global adventures and home again, our B747-400 “City of Canberra” is very deserving of a graceful retirement as the star attraction at one of Australia’s most prestigious aviation museums,” said Mr Joyce.

“As she takes her rightful place in aviation’s hall of fame at HARS we’ll be reminded of her lasting legacy as a great aviation pioneer, a legacy that continues to inspire and drive Qantas’ spirit of innovation and world class airmanship and engineering today.”

Bob De La Hunty, President of the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society, said HARS was honoured to receive the jumbo gift from QANTAS and excited to have such an icon as part of its collection.

“Our members will be very proud to look after VH-OJA, particularly as so many of them have been part of the QANTAS family too. We look forward to preserving this piece of QANTAS history for future generations and have set our sights on building another hanger for it.”

Shellharbour Mayor, Marianne Saliba said, “It is a fantastic opportunity for the community to have this aircraft positioned near the northern entrance to our city – a signpost for the initiative and drive of our residents, particularly the outstanding efforts of HARS in preserving such a broad scope of aviation history.

“I commend everyone involved in the safe arrival of this aircraft and look forward to seeing the flow on effects to our city and business community.”

The delivery flight from Sydney International Airport to Illawarra Regional Airport was the first time a Boeing 747 has landed at the regional port. The QANTAS pilots operating the final flight worked with industry stakeholders on a number of approvals and training procedures given the flight was outside normal QANTAS operations to a non-QANTAS port. A number of considerations were factored in to the preparations including ensuring the appropriate ground handling equipment were positioned at Illawarra Regional Airport for the arrival and giving the aircraft livery a “Permaguard” coating to protect the paintwork for many years to come.

The aircraft interior was also given a full “spruce up” with the only items removed from the aircraft being the QANTAS Flight Operations manuals in the cockpit, the galley carts that store in-flight meals and the fresh flowers in the lavatory. Three of OJA’s Rolls Royce engines still have significant life left in them and will be used on other QANTAS B747s. One engine will be left on OJA, with QANTAS and HARS working on sourcing suitable replacements over time.

Over the past few years, QANTAS has been gradually retiring its older B747s. Nine of its newest jumbos, the last of which was delivered in 2003, have been refurbished and will continue flying into the future. Since 2008, the QANTAS Group has taken delivery of almost 150 new aircraft, lowering its fleet age to an average of just over seven years.

The aircraft will join an impressive lineup of famed aircraft located at HARS including a Lockheed Super Constellation, Catalina, Douglas DC3 and DC4 and a Desert Storm US Army Cobra.

Advertisement

QANTAS Tops Safety Ratings

Posted by George Brown on 08/01/2015
Posted in: Aviation, News, Opinion, Public Opinion, Safety, Technology, Transportation, Travel. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

QANTAS has again topped a ranking of global air safety, with Jetstar on the list of safest low-cost carriers and Virgin Australia also in the top rung of airlines.

Australian-based website AirlineRatings.com put QANTAS top of the list based on a range of factors, including aviation authority audits and the carriers’ fatality records.

Having had no fatalities during the jet era made QANTAS a standout, said AirlineRatings editor and aviation journalist Geoffrey Thomas.

“QANTAS has been the lead airline in virtually every major advancement in airline safety over the past 60 years,” he noted in the report.

The chairman of Strategic Aviation Solutions, analyst Neil Hansford, told ABC News Online that QANTAS thoroughly deserves its number one ranking.

“It’s very hard for anybody to approach them, they’ve never lost a paying passenger,” he said.

Other carriers in the top ten, in alphabetical order, are: Air New Zealand, Cathay Pacific Airways, British Airways, Emirates, Etihad Airways, EVA Air, Finnair, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines.

The top ten low-cost carriers in alphabetical order are: Aer Lingus, Alaska Airlines, Icelandair, Jetstar, Jetblue, Kulula.com, Monarch Airlines, Thomas Cook, TUI Fly and Westjet.

Of the 449 airlines surveyed, 149 received the top seven-star safety rating, including Virgin Australia.

 Neil Hansford said both QANTAS and Virgin have always had strong safety cultures.

“The companies have always wanted to meet and exceed whatever CASA required of them, and we’ve always been world’s best practice,” he said.

Mr Hansford also rejected suggestions that cuts in maintenance staff, particularly large job cuts by QANTAS in recent years, may jeopardise safety.

He said less airline staff are needed because modern planes are designed to need less maintenance, and many of their components are designed to be replaced, not repaired.

“In a lot of these components, you take one out and you slide one in, and the replaced part goes back to the manufacturer to be re-lifed,” Mr Hansford added.

‘Safety does cost money’

Mr Hansford said the key to QANTAS’ consistent performance at the top of air safety rankings is its pilots.

“Safety does cost money, and the QANTAS argued.

He cites the case of QF32, involving an Airbus A380 which made an emergency landing in Singapore in 2010 after an engine blew out several minutes after take-off.  The airline’s experienced flight crew, headed by the experienced Captain Richard de Crespigny, were credited with landing the plane safely.  Mr Hansford said the incident and resultant damage to the plane had been replicated in simulators with fatal results.  “In every other simulation done, the aircraft crashes,” he said.

Airlines Australians are likely to fly that do not have seven stars include Garuda Indonesia and Scoot, which are five-star, and Lion Air Indonesia which is only three-star.

“Interestingly, none of the Air Asia companies are rated at all,” observed Mr Hansford. The AirlineRatings website says a rating is “pending”.

Mr Hansford said people should think carefully about whether a cheap plane ticket is worth a riskier flight.

“Australians have to say to themselves, would I rather pay [an extra] $200 and get there, or for $200 am I prepared to accept a compromise that they probably wouldn’t accept in anything else they buy,” he concluded.

Overall, AirlineRatings said that 2014 had an unusually high number of flying-related deaths, with 21 fatal accidents causing the loss of 986 lives, above the 10-year average.

However, the website points out that the two Malaysia Airlines crashes were both of a very unusual nature and accounted for more than half the deaths, while there were also a record number of passengers carried – 3.3 billion on 27 million flights.

Source: http://www.airlineratings.com

QANTAS Debate: Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys of Australian Jobs

Posted by George Brown on 06/03/2014
Posted in: Aviation, Finance, News, Politics, Safety, Travel, Views. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

 

The Coalition’s partial repeal of the QANTAS Sale Act has passed the Australian parliament’s lower house, as the Senate launched a public inquiry into the airline’s finances. MPs voted 83-53 to support the government’s bill, with independent Victorian MP Cathy McGowan siding with the Coalition. At the same time, the Senate with a Labour/Greens majority will vote down the bill, launched an inquiry into QANTAS’ finances and what measures could be used to support the company, including renationalising it or guaranteeing its debts.

VH-OQA

The debate came after Joe Hockey denied pressuring QANTAS to reverse an earlier position on the carbon tax during a phone call with chief executive Alan Joyce yesterday. Greens senator Lee Rhiannon said she wanted Mr Joyce called to give evidence to the new inquiry and for Qantas’s books to be opened up to examination. “Clearly something has gone wrong with QANTAS — it is vital that we use the Senate inquiry to understand what has happened,” Senator Rhiannon said.

In the House of Representatives, Bill Shorten labelled the Coalition a bunch of “cheese-eating surrender monkeys”, a derogatory term for the French. “It’s taken 94 years to build QANTAS; it’s taken the Abbott government 94 minutes to tear QANTAS down. “Shame,” the Opposition Leader said after the vote.

The government’s bill would open the door for a structural separation of QANTAS’ domestic and international arms, repealing the 49 per cent cap on foreign investment in QANTAS and removing the barrier to foreign airlines buying more than 35 per cent of the company. Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss told parliament QANTAS’ foreign ownership limits were “regulatory handcuffs” that must be removed if QANTAS is to remain in Australia and “grow”.

“Good government is not about playing favourites or being a banker for major companies when times are tough,” Mr Truss said. In my opinion, good business is not having to come to government expecting bail-outs or debt guarantees. Good business is making a profit while working under the regulatory framework in place at any time.

Mr Shorten said even if the bill passed the Senate, it would take years for QANTAS to overcome new regulatory processes that would allow it to raise sufficient foreign capital. In real terms, the bill has little to no chance of passing the senate.

Tasmanian MP Andrew Wilkie voted with the Labor Party, while Clive Palmer and Greens deputy leader Adam Bandt were not present for the vote. Again on an issue as important as this, key parliamentarians are absent from the house.

Later, in question time, the government attacked Labor for suggesting Qantas’s world-famous safety record could be compromised if maintenance jobs were sent offshore. Mr Abbott described the suggestion as “irresponsible’’ and “reckless’’. “The leader of the opposition is trying to suggest that without the restrictions that exist under the Qantas Sale Act an airline can’t be safe,’’ he said.

Independent Bob Katter also questioned the impact on safety of overseas maintenance. “Surely, this must be one whose maintenance is based in Australia, not one whose market advantage comes from a cut-rate cheap jack overseas-based workforce?,’’ he asked Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane. The minister said QANTAS wasn’t the only airline to have a safe flying record. There are other airlines flying in Australia dont necessarily have their maintenance carried out in Australia. Does that make those airlines less safe?.

The Treasurer earlier revealed he yesterday spoke with Mr Joyce about the company’s apparent change of mind on the impact of the carbon tax on the airline’s profitability. QANTAS yesterday released a statement saying the carbon tax was “among the significant challenges” faced by the airline, apparently contradicting its earlier position that its “current issues are not related to carbon pricing”. Then Mr Joyce dramatically reversed his rhetoric on the company’s wellbeing, saying the airline was “extremely healthy”, just four months after warning of its possible demise.  QANTAS yesterday said it had not been able to recover the carbon cost by increasing fares because of intense competition, while revealing it had cost $59 million in the past six months on top of $106m last financial year. “It is absolutely one of the factors that’s impacting the airline,” Mr Joyce said.

QANTAS is more than just an airline. It is an Australian airline, an Australian icon, with firm place in the Australian psyche. The “Flying Kangaroo” is a logo of special significance to all Australians. It has been stated that boarding a QANTAS aircraft is like “getting home before being at home”. Mr Joyce being Irish, has failed to realise this. He sees QANTAS in terms of aircraft, infrastructure and staff.  As I said before on this web site, Australian business does not support CEOs who lose money and whose comapnies do not turn a profit. They sack them, usually with outrageous severance packages. I believe the axe is about to fall on Mr Joyce, probably sooner than later.

Is this legislation likely to be passed into law? I suspect not. Will QANTAS be allowed to to become more efficient? I believe it must, if it is going to remain a competitive world airline. A compromise position must be found.

In 2013 QANTAS for the first time has secured a place (8th) in the top ten world airlines in terms of service, value for money etc. All efforts must be used to make the airline competitive.

Source: The Australian (as edited)

QANTAS – Still Call Australia Home?

Posted by George Brown on 06/03/2014
Posted in: Aviation, Finance, Media, News, Opinion, Tourism, Travel, Workplace. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

20140306-005629.jpg

The Australian Coalition Government strategy of providing assistance to QANTAS is reminiscent of the American strategy during the Vietnam War. Who can forget the chilling phrase from that era, ”Before we save the village , we have to destroy it”?

As a management strategy, that doesn’t have much going for it.

Views
Anthony Inatey, Bathurst
Sounds like QANTAS will go the way of Vegemite. It will be Australian only in name. No doubt they’ll have the nerve though to ”still call Australia home”.

Geoff Gordon, Cronulla
If QANTAS is sold will Messrs Joyce and Clifford be an inclusion? Ed. – But then Joyce is Irish, isn’t he?

Bill Carpenter, Bowral
Market forces across the global economy will ultimately determine the future shape of QANTAS, not the Australian government nor the unions. QANTAS jobs will be lost overseas with or without the government’s changes to the ownership rules because this country is one of the dearest on the planet for the cost of labour. The unions may claim to rely on QANTAS for their future but research proves the flying public would mostly prefer to rely on cheaper airlines that offer comparable standards.

Phillip Regan, Aberglasslyn
If it is good enough for the federal government to provide a debt guarantee for the banks, why not do the same for the airline industry? Or why not let the banks be swallowed by the big boys overseas?

Mike Powter, Leonay
Tony Abbott reckons Virgin Australia is ”as Australian as QANTAS”. How on earth can that be when Virgin is majority-owned by overseas airlines who, when push comes to shove, will ditch Australia like a hot potato.

Russell Mills, Redfern
When you get on a QANTAS plane overseas and are greeted by cheerful Aussies you breathe a sigh of relief. You are home before you get home. QANTAS is not just another business. It’s who we are, and we are a country which needs a flag-raising carrier to show the world we are a strong nation. We need the planes with kangaroos on the tail.

Jill Power, Manly Vale
While I’m normally angered by politicians doing things appropriately falling to the role of the Governor-General, such as farewelling or welcoming our troops, I can think of no better person than Tony Abbott when it comes to ceremoniously lifting the kangaroo off the tail of the plane the day QANTAS ceases to be Australian.

Michael Creswell, Waterloo
If the Prime Minister wishes to allow greater foreign ownership (which will mean controlling ownership), then why not overlay the kangaroo symbol with some gold stars or plaster a striped background on the tailplane? All national airlines are supported by their various governments, so let us not pretend that it will be a national airline any more. The new owners can remove the present board, remove operations to their own country, and we will be free of yet another piece of bothersome industry.

Donald Hawes, Blayney
If there was more foreign ownership of QANTAS perhaps the fares would be reduced, the service improved and more people would once again want to fly with QANTAS.

Carolyn Wills, Cremorne
I don’t know whether a level playing field can be achieved when you are in the air but I do wonder why the words chief executive Joyce used about the 5000 jobs do not appear to have been accurately reported in print, let alone discussed. What he said on TV was ”the equivalent of 5000 full-time jobs”. Does that mean 10,000 part-time? Get your parachutes on!

Comment:
QANTAS was always at risk of overseas ownership when Alan Joyce was appointed as CEO. Here’s a Irishman who claim to fame was that he has worked for Aer Lingus. From the moment of his appointment to QANTAS, he has slashed jobs, sent maintenance work off-shore all in a glorified and yet vain attempt to make QANTAS more profitable. Has he succeeded? No! Oh sure, he has pulled QANTAS into one of the world’s top ten airlines, and JetStar into one of Asia’s best budget carriers and brokered a deal with Emirates on long haul flights to the UK, but the airline is still haemorrhaging money.

Sadly he has not grasped the concept that to most Australians, QANTAS is more than an airline, it’s an Australian icon, an essential part of the Australian psyche. Russell Mills (above) quite rightly described boarding a QANTAS aircraft as “you are home before you get home”. Mr Joyce has no concept of this.

Also, don’t forget that a QANTAS’ majority shareholder is British Airways, so in a way, QANTAS is already overseas owned. So the Irishman thinks, what’s a little bit more?

There’s only one way to ensure that QANTAS remains Australian, and that for it to have government ownership. But it still has to be profitable. It’s not doing that now, and foreign ownership will not change that.

Lastly, what do Australian companies do with CEOs that don’t perform? Sack them with outrageous severance packages. Goodbye Mr Joyce! You’re not long for QANTAS!

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

The Men Who Killed QANTAS

Posted by George Brown on 14/08/2012
Posted in: Aviation, News, Safety, Views. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

THE MEN WHO KILLED QANTAS by Matthew Benns

QANTAS is in the news again with its decision to lay-off more Australian staff and send those jobs off-shore, in a blatant cost-cutting measure. In my on-line search to find information to confirm this decision, I found this (edited) article and book which looks at “The Men Who Killed QANTAS” by Matthew Benns

The foundation for the grounding of the entire QANTAS fleet for the first time in the airline’s history was laid years ago. QANTAS CEO Alan Joyce, an Irish/Australian science graduate from the University of Dublin, worked for Aer Lingus for 8 years. He left to join Ansett Australia until he was appointed as CEO of Jetstar Australia. He was groomed as Geoff Dixon’s natural successor and the ideal candidate to see the work Dixon began through to fruition. Let us not forget that Dixon was the main cheerleader for an $11 billion debt-fuelled buyout in 2006 that would have put Qantas to the wall when the GFC hit. The shareholders vetoed the deal.

When the board backed Alan Joyce for the top job over 36 year QANTAS veteran John Borghetti it was effectively backing Dixon’s vision that had already begun with the use of cut price flight attendants from Thailand and New Zealand. Today there is a strong question mark over whether the airline picked the right man. Borghetti has gone on to take the helm of Virgin Australia, which is quickly filling the gap QANTAS has left for a quality airline the nation can be proud of.

QANTAS is currently locked in a battle to the death with its own workforce. Joyce clearly believes the only way forward is to base the workforce offshore to lower costs – Australian jobs will be lost but QANTAS will be able to compete on the same playing field as rivals such as Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific. Such a strategy comes with a massive cost. When a Rolls-Royce engine on flight QF 32 exploded over Singapore on the eve of the airline’s 90th anniversary it was the quick thinking of the pilot that saved the lives of the 440 passengers on board. Seasoned former RAAF and experienced pilot Richard Champion De Crespigny overrode the new Airbus A380s computers to safely land the plane. Alan Joyce hailed him a hero. But all that is quickly and unfortunately forgotten in his race to cut costs and put cheaper crews in the cockpit of Australian aircraft. Ask any passenger and there is no question that they want a well paid, seasoned QANTAS veteran in the cockpit when things go wrong.

QANTAS is more than a business. It is The Australian airline, with a long and proud history. It is perhaps unfortunate that Joyce does not seen to understand that principle, but then again he is Irish! QANTAS founder Hudson Fysh was a committed champion of pilots in the mould of Richard De Crespigny. What would Fysh have thought of the grounding of the fleet and the moves to send the workforce offshore simply to cut costs? There is no substitute for quality, and quality costs!  Costs and safety are inversly proportional! The less you spend on maintenance, inspections and quality control, the greater the negative impact on safety.  QANTAS has an enviable safety record in that it has never had a fatal accident.  No other airline can claim that!  Maybe under Jocye’s watch that will change.

Some may see this post as an advertisement for the book.  It is certainly not so, the book rather supports a view that I have had about the (mis)management of QANTAS for some time.  I have ordered the book and I will look forward to reading it to expand my view and knowledge on this subject. The book is available through Random House Books Australia.