Ben Sandilands
Editor of Plane Talking @PlaneTalking
Ben Sandilands has reported and analysed the mechanical mobility of humanity since late 1960 - the end of the age of great scheduled ocean liners and coastal steamers and the start of the jet age. He’s worked in newspapers, radio and TV in a wide range of roles as a journalist at home and abroad for 56 years, the last 18 freelance.
There is no doubt more could be done to tighten security at airports. But that isn’t the Australian way, which is to insist on compliance with standards that are more about appearance than effect.
On February 7, 2008, a Qantaslink Boeing 717 was slammed onto the runway at Darwin Airport so hard it deformed and wrinkled the rear of the fuselage. Ben Sandilands has the ATSB final report.
Helped by high trolley ‘lolly’ sales such as food and drinks in-flight, and a tax credit against earlier losses in Australia, Tiger Airways has posted a net profit after tax of $SIN 28.2 million, writes Ben Sandilands.
Jetstar becoming Singapore’s first long-haul, low-cost carrier has far more serious ramifications than the scant press coverage intimated.
One of the foremost critics in the US of the Joint Strike Fighter fiasco, Bill Sweetman, has been pulled off the case by his employer, Aviation Week, and a fire storm of anger is burning in the American media.
Boeing’s Phantom Ray unmanned defence systems test vehicle looks the part of a 1950’s comic book, but will it be able to tell the difference between a school and a collection of baddies in central Asia? asks Ben Sandilands.
The airlines don’t want to give away flights for ‘free’ to frequent flyers anymore, they want to sell however many millions of points they care to mint out of thin air to third parties. What is left to look forward to? asks Ben Sandilands.
Airlines have been turning their "loyalty" points into selling opportunities rather than rewards. The days of "free" for flyers are coming to an end.
This report about Jetstar concerns passengers being treated like crap by the carrier, and some very unprofessional and threatening attitudes by staff, with one exception. Ben Sandilands explains.
Even if the black boxes from Air France flight AF447 are retrieved, the question remains: to what extent was this disaster caused by pilots thinking more like accountants or shareholders than as pilots?
