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.
Disaffected pilots and staff are discussing moves to force the Qantas management to disclose secret transfers of assets from Qantas to Jetstar to make the low-cost subsidiary look more profitable than it is.
The media is engaged in a Qantas disaster frenzy and it's all a shallow media sham. None of these incidents matter two cents, but a lazy media is chasing after problems which Qantas has dealt in the safest possible manner.
Airliners must pass a test in which they are left unpowered and unheated for prolonged periods at -40C to prove the integrity of their components in polar conditions. So why aren't Boeings new planes doing the tests? asks Ben Sandilands.
Qantas is inflating its stock exchange filings of monthly data for its Jetstar International operations with those of its Jetstar New Zealand domestic operation.
Last night’s 747 turnback to Sydney airport was an inconvenient non-event for passengers. But this is not true of another area of doubt at Qantas -- safety oversight and record keeping.
The aviation world is aflutter with photos of a Swiss Air Force FA18 Hornet flying the Swiss Alps extremely closely with an Airbus A380. Are the photos showing Airbus breaking safety rules? asks Ben Sandilands.
As PR stunts go, the cracked Qantas wind-screen near disaster story doing the rounds this morning is a gripping read. Too bad it's merely a routine incident that didn’t affect safety at all.
Low cost carrier Viva Macau has run out of money and its operations have been suspended by the Macau government. But be warned, says Ben Sandilands, unsuspecting Aussie consumers can still purchase tickets online.
Why haven’t Australian carriers, and the safety regulator CASA, yet applied the significant Australia research into pilot fatigue resulting from sleep deprivation in this country? asks Ben Sandilands.
Every frequent flyer’s nightmare lurched closer to reality when Qantas reported its February operating statistics to the ASX this morning -- Jetstar domestic reached exactly 50% of the size of Qantas.
