February 28, 2011 – 4:27 pm
At least some of the senators conducting the Senate inquiry into pilot training and airline safety will by now have received a set of documents issued by Jetstar in relation to its New Zealand cadet training scheme and a commentary claiming it will undermine Australian industrial law in relation to terms and conditions of employment. [...]
February 28, 2011 – 9:24 am
The second and last jet flight between Hobart and the Australian Antarctic blue ice runway some 70 kilometres from the Casey station this season took place yesterday. It has been a very poor season for direct flights by the Australian Antarctic Division’s Airbus A319 jet this southern polar summer because of much warmer and wetter [...]
February 27, 2011 – 10:43 am
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, Jetstar group CEO Bruce Buchanan and the Qantas head of safety, John Gissing, should be recalled for further examination by the Senate inquiry into pilot training and airline safety. In what was a day packed full of surprises on Friday, the committee members heard and discussed some very important insights into [...]
February 27, 2011 – 6:47 am
The story of transport is full of stunning innovations, but also, there are moments of change. Such as the last steam train from somewhere, or the last tram from somewhere else, the last merchant sailing ship catching a fair wind from a dockside, or the last Boeing 707 flight for this airline or that (although [...]
February 25, 2011 – 5:33 pm
The CEO of CASA, John McCormick, confirmed at this afternoon’s Senate inquiry session that it had demanded an explanation and remedial action from Qantaslink after 15 stick shaker incidents in its Dash 8 fleet going back to about 2007. McCormick said CASA’s main concern was how it learned about the incidents. He undertook to provide [...]
February 25, 2011 – 2:13 pm
NSW Senator Bill Heffernan, who is chairing the Senate inquiry into pilot training and airline safety, has twice in today’s hearings referred to a report about an incident in which the right hand seat (the first officer post) and the left hand seat (the captain’s post) had a serious disagreement. On the first occasion, which [...]
February 25, 2011 – 11:52 am
After droning on for minutes about how Qantas safety “is our number one concern” its CEO Alan Joyce was rattled before a Senate inquiry into pilot and airline training this morning by the disclosure that CASA had written a letter of demand to Qantas concerning 15 stick shaker incidents in the Dash 8 turbo prop [...]
February 24, 2011 – 6:54 pm
Who would have thought that the announcement of a new rocket ride ‘thrill tip’ venture would lead to a lingerie collection? Bare with me. This is one of those stories that resembles a Jonathan Cleese sketch. It starts off serious and then lurches into insanity, yet the topic, joy flights into space, is not only [...]
February 23, 2011 – 10:58 am
Updated: Virgin Blue CEO John Borghetti revealed key parts of the airline’s program to introduce new product at a briefing in Sydney this afternoon. These images are of a wide body transcontinental business class that is definitely superior to any configuration flown by Qantas except in its A380s. The seat pitch in the A330-200s that [...]
February 23, 2011 – 9:40 am
There is nothing notably good nor bad in the Virgin Blue financial results for the six months to December 31 just posted on the ASX in advance of an analyst and media briefing at midday in Sydney. The interesting disclosures, precise details about new products, new routes, and other anticipated developments are described as ‘imminent’. [...]
