And it continues today…
Fairly routine airline incidents are now being reported as “BREAKING NEWS” (when it comes to QANTAS) after the Auckland-Sydney engine issue last week.
Definitely some sort of campaign going on…
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Yeah, spate of minor incidents is big news apparently.
Some poor bloke on business class had their croissant burnt and smoke from the galley entered the cockpit so they turned it around 
Better being safe than sorry and passengers got a free night in Fiji
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A spate of “minor incidents” can become big news. Not suggesting it’s anything other than a slow news month, but if there is an increase in these minor incidents, then Qantas would want to be investigating. We all know people are different coming out of the pandemic, has this affected maintenance? Have aircraft that weren’t flown to the extent they are expected to contributed? Etc etc. Minor incidents now, but if you don’t know what’s causing them you risk missing a major one.
(And this is different from whether they’re breaking news…!)
Qantas normally see around 60-80 turnarounds a year s plus the others that don’t even take off so yes 5 in a week isn’t great and will be duly investigated to see if there is a pattern just in case it’s a design or manufacturer issue or down to crew error, maintenance etc. I know other airlines are having issues with some of their wide bodies that were parked for the best part of two years but nearly all the recent Qantas issues seem to be with the 737 workhorses. Some are getting a little long on the tooth hence why replacements are on their way but thankfully we have pretty stringent regulations and requirements here and we have an excellent safety record in Australia.
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Murdoch and co need a crusade, Albo is not getting much traction so far so lets move onto some fearmongering around an icon, the Irishman must be getting booted from the boyz club
I do wonder who’s CL membership has been revoked or who got bumped from a flight
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I don’t know if it is still the case but Qantas used to service their planes to higher standards than the manufacturers recommended. As a result of their rigorous and zealous service record they also sold their planes for more than they bought them.
Spare a thought for Air Biman. Thirty years ago l was in Sumatra and met 3 French travelers. They had flown to Bangkok with Air Biman from Paris and it had for some reason they could not explain, taken them 3 days going via Hong Kong. At the time it was said Air Biman had a fleet of 4 planes and 2 of them weren’t flying. Not sure about the accuracy of the last statement.
Biman were as dodgy as anything back then and only had a handful of aircraft that they “borrowed” from India and some other lease arrangements from the UK and France but they did crash a couple so wouldn’t surprise me if your last statement was close to the mark.
They are actually pretty good now and have spent a fair bit on replenishing their fleet and on maintenance. We have done a couple of flights with them and whilst the onboard service and comfort wasn’t great their aircraft were modern and their safety record is excellent
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I don’t know the answer to this, but just not because I don’t know what servicing their aircraft to “higher standards than the manufacturers recommended” actually means. It’s a nice thought, but doesn’t really make sense in terms of safety outcomes. You can’t just buy more airworthiness by doing more maintenance, and sometimes that additional maintenance might be detrimental. (No, seriously) There will be some areas where preventative maintenance can get you really good monetary savings from future maintenance, and also good safety outcomes. However, it has to be targeted programs designed to achieve specific outcomes, rather than “more”.
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Servicing to a higher standard can mean something as simple of replacing parts more frequently than recommended or even replacing worn parts completely when tolerance levels are still within spec.
It still does happen at all Australian airlines.
Manufacturers for instance might recommend that part x is replaced at 1000hrs of flying time and Qantas would replace it 800hrs for instance. In general Qantas aircraft of the same age as other airlines will often be in better nick and still hold a better resale value than competitors
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While I understand what you’re saying (and Australian aviation has a very strong culture), the example is not actually “to a higher standard”, with an increase in safety associated. A “higher standard” might be implementing additional preventative maintenance which may be more expensive in the short term but which will save money later. These types of programs might make more sense for an airline that owns its own aircraft vs one that leases their aircraft, due to cost savings, and hence might be something that Qantas night do. But that’s not necessarily “to a higher standard”, but rather just a different way of maintaining the aircraft to the same standards.
Vendetta at the moment.
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Absolutely agree with what you have said and Qantas as well as Virgin especially do all those things you have mentioned including additional preventative maintenance. Ex Qantas aircraft are usually very high in demand due to this but will be interesting to see how that looks when the current lot are phased out in the coming years
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C9 seems to be the one with an axe to grind
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There’s probably some partnership with Virgin or another airline that plebs in the public like us wouldn’t be privy to.
It was a stupid error that someone will get their backside kicked for and will cost Qantas some coin but no safety issue.
Might just be a disgruntled C9 staffer who probably got bumped out of business class by an elite
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I’m getting worried about flying! What happens if someone on my flight burns a croissant? What if the paperwork isn’t right? Are other savouries at risk of burning? Won’t someone think of the children???
Who knew flying had so many unexpected dangers.
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Alan Joyce rooted Eddie McGuires missus. This was humiliating to Eddie on many levels. This is Eds payback.
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they’ve just found something new that people love to click on.
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