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Is Gadling against Qantas airlines?
If you've been reading Gadling for a while -- and we trust you have! -- you might have the impression that we're somewhat down on Qantas, Australia's major carrier. For a sampling:- In March, we covered new, serious safety concerns at the airline
- In June, we wrote about the airline making its second emergency landing in three days
- Two days ago, we covered Qantas' confession to price fixing
Take reports yesterday that a Qantas flight from LA to Sydney lost its weather radar capabilities shortly after taking off and was forced to tail an Air New Zealand flight (funny enough, the airline's chief rival) all the way to Auckland. The ANZ flight led the way and sent back weather reports and headings to the Qantas crew, who were transporting 284 passengers on the 12-hour flight.
That's just the latest in a series of malfunctions at Qantas that has led to some serious questions about the carrier's safety standards and the condition of its fleet.
But lest you think that we're only reporting negative news about Qantas here at Gadling, here's some news the carrier wants you to know about: It began service on its ultra-luxurious A380 aircraft this week.
The plane's main claim to fame is a first class section that boasts 14 private suites, each complete with LCD screen TV, a dining table (where you'll eat an eight-course tasting menu), guest chair and a swivel chair that converts into a bed. Plus, you get your own Akira Isogawa pajamas. Cost per ticket: $25,000.
Filed under: Airlines
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
sleepera8 Oct 30th 2008 9:01AM
I wonder if they spent all their maintenance money to buy the new A380s?
u07ch Oct 30th 2008 2:07PM
I don't think you are being harsh; i think you missed QF72 which everyone has been very quiet over - turbulence + systems failure = emergency landing. I think you can probably lay the blame with Airbus for not delivering the A380 on time leaving qantas with planes they would rather not have. The quality of the air crew seems to be the biggest thing they have going and i hope they recognize it.
Im' flying london - singapore - london with in two weeks; so im not too worried ...
Mark Sherman Oct 30th 2008 7:52PM
As a professional pilot and aircraft mechanic, I realize that no matter how well these incidents are reported, it is almost impossible to use these isolated incidents to compare airlines, largely because the media is poor in accurately reporting technical aviation news, and isolated incidents can be used in very misleading ways, even when that is not the intent. About a month ago while flying over LA, one of my coworkers watched an American Airlines 757 make an emergency landing in the morning at LAX. That afternoon, I listened to events unfold as a second American 757 taking off from John Wayne diverted for an emergency landing at LAX. In my opinion, this is unfortunate, but I don't think twice about flying American. The afernoon emergency did not even make local news. It is very difficult to get the whole picture if you are not involved in the whole operation.
Andrew Oct 30th 2008 7:20PM
I fly Qantas about once a week at the moment, which is down from 2-3 times a week this time last year. I've started moving more and more of my flights to Virgin Blue.
There are a few reasons I've been moving my flights, but one of my main ones is the aircraft that Qantas use. Because I generally fly short haul domestic, I am typically on 737-400's or the occasional 737-800. Now the 800's are a pretty recent plane and are in good condiction, but the 400's seem to be getting very old. They are frequently delayed due to maintenance.
My major reason for moving carrier is the way qantas operate, and I imaging this is a staffing/contracting issue. When you board a qantas plane you always board only from the front... so it takes 20 minutes to get everyone on. Then it takes 20 minutes to get everyone off... then once your off the plane you spend 20 minutes standing around waiting for your luggage to turn up. The problems with the luggage also tend to encourage frequent flyers to bring 2 bags onto the plane which then fills the cabin.
Virgin Blue on the other hand always board from both ends of the plane, so your on your way quickly and you get off nice and quick. Typically, you only wait a few minutes for your luggage to arrive as well.
I am not sure on the general statistics, but it also feels like VB run on time more frequently and have less lengthy delays.
Also, I get more points flying with Virgin, so thats another bonus... and I can spend those points on flights with the Virgin airline groups and even Emirates.
I think things will get better for Qantas once the A380s start flowing in, and then the 787's as well. They are going to have to start doing something about their domestic fleet soon though.