Justice fails in IndonesiaThe most guilty party in the March 2007 crash of a Garuda 737 at Yogyakarta which killed 5 Australians escaped punishment in Indonesia today. That party was the airline, Garuda.
Aviation
Qantas has confessed, now Singpaore and Emirates face ACCC
Emirates and Singapore Airlines have lost a Federal Court bid to prevent their pursuit by the ACCC for fixing fuel and security surcharges, writes Ben Sandilands.
Poisoning cyberspace with Arab hate mail
A fresh coat of hatred has been poured over a hoary old internet fakement about ignorant Arab pilots and a brand new Airbus they destroyed on the ground in France, writes Ben Sandilands.
Planes flying blind at regional airports
Australia has tolerated, at airline insistence, the criminally insane mixing of scheduled passenger aircraft and smaller objects, writes Ben Sandilands.
Qantas row: rude mechanics vs goons
A union not involved in the Qantas baggage dispute has blown the whistle on dangerous practices by the management staff that entered the tarmac in efforts to keep the airline running, writes Ben Sandilands.
Qantas throws a match into bonfire of the airlines
The QF+BA “merger of equals” discussion, which sources credit to former Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon, is to consolidation what the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand was to world peace in 1914, writes Ben Sandilands.
QF72 — chaos at 37,000 feet
The preliminary report into the 7 October double dive by QF 72 shows that a lot more went wrong with the Airbus A330 than previously disclosed, writes >Ben Sandilands.
The blue-sky marketing madness of the F-35
Australia and the Department of Spendthrift Defence, can’t afford this gold plated and unproven wonder, writes Eric L Palmer.
Dick Smith: Please stop asking me about Qantas!
A rather unusual media release from Dick Smith lobbed into journalists’ inboxes this morning…
Phuket it! Where was DFAT and Qantas?
I’ve been one of the several thousand (we think) Australians trapped in Phuket because of the protests which shut the airport.
CASA Qantas audit supressed … QF30 ricochet revealed
The CASA special audit of Qantas has been completed and will be suppressed on the grounds of being ‘commercial in confidence’, writes Ben Sandilands.
Bulkhead blues another blow to Qantas’ reputation
Pressure bulkheads like those in the six temporarily grounded Qantas 737-400s are vital to safe flight. If they break apart the difference in pressure between the cabin interior and the external air pressure will destroy the jet, writes Ben Sandilands.
Rationing the skies
So much for ‘renegade’ air traffic controllers causing chaos in the skies, writes Ben Sandilands.
Media briefs: White House plane detained, Phuket, let’s pun and more
China detains White House media plane: A charter airplane carrying the White House press corps was detained for nearly three hours Friday at Beijing’s international airport not long after President Bush arrived to attend the Olympic Games. The flight crew of the Northwest Airlines 747 had been expecting to park at a VIP terminal, but […]
State of the Planet: Going green Beijing?
How friendly are the Olympics, really?
How safe is Qantas really?
Crikey reader David asks: “Is Qantas’s record as good as we are led to believe? And how are the stats to be compared: deaths, emergency landings per hour flown, per aircraft, per trip?” Ben Sandilands responds.
Tiger and Jetstar in battle of spin
On Friday, Tiger announced it would quit Darwin only a few hours before Jetstar was heaping praise on the NT government. Let’s take a look at what’s really going on, writes Ben Sandilands.
Tiger Airways has no-one to blame but itself
Don’t listen to Tiger Airways’ whingeing, serious questions have to be asked about the airline’s network strategy, writes Martin Kelly, Editor of Travel Trends.
Qantas special investigation just more CASA spin?
The CASA special investigation of Qantas could be seen as a rediscovery of its legal obligations to adequately monitor, audit and enforce compliance with safety regulations. Or it could be seen as more spin, writes Ben Sandilands.
Inside the exploding Qantas 747. Oh dear.
Pictures have arrived of the Qantas 747 with the troublesome oxygen bottle.
AirServices memo fails to shift the blame
The crisis gripping Australian air traffic control has serious safety implications, writes Ben Sandilands.
AirServices Australia memo
CEO Direct — Service interruptionsWednesday, 30 July 2008 The environment we are operating in Over the next few days there will be further media on the issue of service interruptions, current and future staffing levels and associated issues. It is very important for the management team and I to provide you with a clear position on the […]
The full bottle on the latest Qantas thrill ride
The clues about the cause of the ugly Qantas laundry drop at Manila last Friday are falling into place, writes Ben Sandilands.
ANZ profit plunge precedes another loss in business confidence
Just as investor confidence was being battered for the second day in a row by a surprise from a leading bank, there’s a new forecast of a further downturn in business confidence, writes Glenn Dyer.
Dixon ejects as Qantas jumps for Joyce
The appointment of Alan Joyce, the CEO of Jetstar, as the new Qantas CEO, comes as a shock, writes Ben Sandilands.
