Qantas Maintenance Story On Ch.7

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Message to Staff
David Cox, Executive General Manager Qantas Engineering

Recently there have been some media reports concerning Qantas Engineering’s heavy maintenance activities.

These stories focus on a small number of audit reports, and a small number of issues, relating to work carried out for Qantas by Singapore Airlines Engineering Company (SIAEC) in Singapore and Lufthansa Technik in the Philippines. The key issues were identified some time ago and were thoroughly investigated at that time.

However, to anyone not experienced in the field of aircraft maintenance, the story may have caused needless concern regarding safety at Qantas

First and foremost, I can assure you that Qantas remains 100 per cent committed to the highest safety standards.For Qantas Engineering, safety always has been, and always will be, at the core of everything we do.

These are the facts

the vast majority – about 90 per cent - of our aircraft heavy maintenance is undertaken in Australia

the remainder which is generally overflow work, work on aircraft types where the volume is low, including new aircraft types such as the A330, is done overseas. This is nothing new and has been the case for decades;

our overseas providers are in the top tier of the industry and are certified by Qantas and CASA;

their employees are specially trained to meet Qantas’ own requirements;

Qantas Engineering always has a team of its own people on site to oversee and ensure work undertaken offshore is of an acceptable quality; and

Qantas Engineering undertakes nearly 200 audits each year. Any issue identified – be it with a Qantas Australian facility or an offshore provider – is dealt with immediately and rigorously.

The providers used by Qantas maintain aircraft for some of the most respected airlines in the world, including Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines. No rational person who understands the aircraft industry could seriously suggest that they too are not committed to safety.Qantas Engineering applies identical stringent standards to all of its suppliers in Australia and overseas. If we identify a quality issue at any supplier, we address it immediately. For this process to work, every staff member should report issues as soon as they arise. To withhold information and then release it to the media is a totally unacceptable breach of our safety system.


Our people here in Australia undertake the vast majority of our maintenance work and they do a fantastic job day in and day out, particularly in the context of the necessary changes we are making to the Qantas Engineering business to make it sustainable. It is deeply regrettable that such good work is undermined by industrially motivated media activity.

We are trying to build an efficient and competitive business in Australia that will ensure work stays in this country. To do this, we need the flexibility to be able to occasionally send work overseas to reputable providers. To run stories of this nature quite simply works against this goal and prejudices our commitment to safety.

David Cox
Executive General Manager
Qantas Engineering


Thank you for saving the airline David. No wonder we pay you 1.3 M per year.