Among the latest WikiLeaks cables out of the US Embassy in Canberra is one that blows away the myth making about how superbly CASA was regulating air safety in Australia, at least until the current overhaul took hold under a new director of safety.
Articles by Ben Sandilands 
A diamond planet!!! Yep, it has been a big week in space
From the edges of a vast crater on Mars to a distant planet that has to be one great big diamond, it has been a remarkable week in space for the denizens of planet earth.
Virgin at a loss, but it’s more Australian than Qantas
While this morning’s reported net loss after tax of $67.8 million by Virgin Australia in the year to June 30 was within its guidance after the Queensland floods and cyclone, it comes a day after Qantas reported a doubling of group profits.
Qantas in profit, Elvis, UFOs and no moon landings notwithstanding
This was possibly the first corporate results press conference in Australia in which a CEO invoked Elvis Presley and UFOs at Roswell.
Qantas: Katter says buy it back, Xenophon wants audit of losses
The political dimension of the Qantas restructuring had a high-noon blast-off in Canberra today when members of all parties held a press conference with key Qantas unions officials.
For Qantas staff, it’s death by a thousand cuts
Qantas released the first part of its international restructuring this morning, cutting its frequencies into London Heathrow by almost half in favour of handing Bangkok and Hong Kong services to British Airways, and says this will save it the need for four Boeing 747-400s and about 1000 jobs.
Tiger to fly again, but given losses, what about fare hikes?
It will be a much leaner Tiger than before, concentrating on a small range of major domestic routes including Sydney-Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane and the Gold Coast but details of fares and frequencies have not yet been released.
The high-speed rail project and the fairytales that surround it
The first stage of the government’s high-speed rail study appears to set implausible capital costs and match them with highly attractive theoretical cheap fares.
Fukushima disaster: worse than Hiroshima
More gravely serious truths about the severity of the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster following the earthquake and tsunami of March 11 have emerged.
Tiger likely to get new boss, new name
Tiger Airways will have a new Australian CEO within about a month, and possibly a new name to go with it.
No Qantas strike, but a bit of ‘This is your kamikaze speaking …’
The so-called “kamikaze” pilots at Qantas this morning announced they wouldn’t immediately strike over their unresolved EBA negotiations with the airline.
Qantas stance a game-losing own goal in pilot row
Since its pilots voted overwhelmingly to support any union call for lawful or protected industrial action, Qantas management has started arguing with its pilots about its plans to restructure the airline group rather than their pay claims for a tiny 2.5% three-year pay deal.
Sandilands: vale Atlantis, all hail Atlantis
A space shuttle called Atlantis (what was NASA thinking?) is docked like a fat dart in the side of the gigantic tubes and panels of the international space station.
What was Tiger’s original purpose and what happens now?
Tiger, for consumers, was hell. It was unreliable, unresponsive and tricky to use.
Tiger facing a slow death … or a mercy killing
Tiger Airways has now been cornered, not just by CASA but its major investor Singapore Airlines.
Qantas A380 forced to divert after flying into ash danger zone
The ATSB has revealed that a Qantas Airbus A380 flew through one of the danger zones for 15 minutes about 210 kilometres north of Nadi, Fiji, just over a week ago.
Dead Tiger bounce as carrier brings itself undone
While shares in Qantas and Virgin Australia did a “dead” Tiger bounce in trading this morning, the implication that they stood to make more money from higher fares isn’t well based.
A new world dawning as space probe closes in on asteroid
Far away from the euro crisis, Boganville and rogue attacks by volcanic ash clouds, a new world Vesta is coming into focus in the cameras of a tiny, internationally supported US spacecraft called Dawn.
Senate inquiry takes tougher approach on pilot training, safety
In lay language, the Senate inquiry into pilot training and airline safety has made a set of recommendations that would put Australia on the same page as American lawmakers in resisting the dangerous things desperate airlines have been doing to cut corners.
August 24 will be a bloody day for Qantas
It is rare for Qantas to reveal the performance of its passenger-carrying brands in isolation from each other. The current financial situation is so bad it threatens the very existence of Qantas as a group, says its CEO.
Airlines get mixed report card on volcanic ash
Today’s ash crisis for people flying in south-east Australia was not the surprise to the airlines that it may have appeared.
Phony war over volcanic ash safety policies between Virgin and Qantas/Jetstar
It could be as much as another week before the ash plumes from the Puyehue eruption in Chile have dispersed to altitudes and concentrations where they pose no risk to flights.
Who’s right in the great volcanic ash safety debate?
On the third full day of havoc resulting from clouds of volcanic ash from a Chilean eruption being blown into Australian and New Zealand airspace it remains Qantas versus everyone else (even the RAAF) when it comes to its insistence on grounding any flights.
Qantas to suffer as Virgin gets it on with Singapore Airlines
The contrast between a floundering Qantas management and Virgin Australia at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) conference in Singapore is painful to watch.
For Qantas chiefs, life in the pressure cooker will get hotter
Telling Australians that Qantas needs to be less Australian to be successful is not a winning message.
