What next for Tassie?

[djembe56]

Impulse crew in Hobart have been told not to buy houses. Rumour is that the 717s are going to Alice Springs/Darwin.
Hobart doctor told by QF that business class will return to Launceston in the new year.
Might there be a shuffle of the 146/717 services?

[topend3]

a question - are the 717's configured all economy or business/economy? would be great to see the 717's up here, you can have the 146's!

[HOBAY 3]

Will all 717s be going or just some? Apparantly the 717 is a real winner on HBA-SYD, so why would they replace it? It's pretty obvious that the 146s are going back to LST, but what will QF use to HBA? If there is to be no J class, then that only leaves all economy 737 or all economy 767, unless some mixture of 717 and 767 is used?

:confused:

[pistol_pete]

I hope they dont replace the 717's with 146's for Hobart flights. Does demand for the Hobart flights justify a 767? I would think that if they were to replace the 717's it would be a 737 taking over.

[Dog One]

717's are all configured ecomony class only. Quite a uproar when they first started HBA - MEL services, several well known HBA people were rightly put out that hot drinks weren't served and no business class! Remember quite a bit on the media about the aircraft configuration. The reason given for no hot drink service was that the flight time MEL LST was too short, and that for standardisation the same rule applied to MEL HBA. Hot drinks were soon available after the media got hold of it.

THe leg ASP DRW might be a bit long for the 717, especially in the wet.

While it may be so that the 146's are coming back to LST, HBA people did not like them when AN put them onto both runs. People deserted AN in droves to on the HBA MEL sector, preferring QF's 737.

Betcha any Natjet crews moved to LST will be a bit wary about buying anything. Here today - gone tomorrow!!!

[pa31p]

So when are the BAe 146's due back into LST :confused:

[ditzyboy]

If the 737s go back to MEL-HBA then hot drinks will not be offered after 4pm due to mainline's lower FA to PAX ratio in Y. Also seat pitch in Y class will decrease again to 31" (717s have 32-34"). And the HBA people can fly on older a/c with more chance of being sat in a centre seat. All for the sake of the handfull of J class pax QF will get everyday. It is the bulk of Y class travellers that will lose out here.

Would be good to see QF maybe have 4 734 flights a day (with J class) and make up the rest with 717s - like SYD-OOL. That pleases everyone and Impulse won't have to close another base. QF really like screwing over their regionals!

Dog One -
May I just clear up a misconception re the tea and coffee.... Impulse decided that we could not serve hot drinks and do a full bar and HOT meal on 40 minute sectors. So we stopped serving hot drinks after midday in favour of bar service. That was only on MEL-LST (mind you I am aware that some crew abused the rule and extended it to HBA flights). Then the reduced catering came on 02/01/02 and QF stopped loading cups in ALL boxes after 4pm, on ALL flights less than 2.5hours. Hard to serve hot drinks when there is no cups to put them in! That lasted for about 4 weeks. Longest 4 weeks of my life..... :rolleyes:

Also I am no expert about a/c performance and runway length etc. but why wouldn't the 717 do ASP-DRW? We do TSV-SYD and HTI-SYD and ADL-OOL.

[HOBAY 3]

Ditzy,

I agree that the 734/717 combo would be the best solution, but I don't think QF intend bringing J class back to Tas. The only reason LST is getting it, is because they are being dumped with the 146s, which come with J class! The HBA service will be all economy, but with what aircraft I am still unsure.

With regards to aircraft requirement, there are currently 20 daily 717s used solely to Tas. I don't think that a couple of daily services to ASP and DRW will take up this many aircraft, so either some aircraft are staying on Tas routes, or there are even more new 717 routes in the pipeline.

;)

[cficare]

The sooner the 146's are back in Tassie, the better

[Bell Man]

Qantas are going to cancel all jet and turbo prop services into Launceston, and operate the DC-3, exclusively on this route. They even have a backup aircraft if it goes U/S. Yes, Ansett will donate there DC-3.
:D :D :D :D

[No Further Requirements]

ditzyboy, I don't think the problem is runway length (Darwin's is one of the longest in Oz - 11,000ft) but during the wet it is not uncommon for there to be conditions requiring lots of holding fuel to be carried. Not a problem if it is BNE or SYD - there are heaps of suitable diversion airfileds close by. However, the closest to Darwin is Tindal, and if that also has cr@p weather, the next best is either Gove, Kunnanurra or Alice, all at least one hour away. Therefore there is a good possibilty that if all of the airfields are socked in, the poor little 717 departing Alice will be chocckers with fuel, but will have less (fare paying) pax due to weight. I think that should clear it up a bit! Cheers,

NFR.

[ditzyboy]

cficare -
Why is that?

NFR -
Thank you :)

[Big Jan]

Djembe my dear chap,You might like to stick to beating drums.From what I have heard, nobody on the 717 in Tassie has been told not to buy a house.
NFR I don't know anything about the 146,but the 717 can take off from a strip 1800m long at 30deg C at a weight of over 50 ton.
This would mean full pax with 20kg each (115 pax) 60 min holding fuel, normal reserves ie 1000kg and this would leave 4.6 ton for climb, cruise,descent and manouvering.(Alice is 2400m long but I have not taken into account escape proc as I have no info on Alice).
For 700nm ie Alice-Darwin (Approx) this is more than enough.
Methinks even the 146 would have problems carrying Alice as an alternate for Darwin with a full load.Don't forget the 717 does not gas the pax on the way.(sorry couldn't help myself).
I'm looking forward to meeting the NJS folk when they join Impulse.:) ;)

[OpsNormal]

..........but I have not taken into account escape proc as I have no info on Alice.....

Alice is pretty simple... if one goes quiet, don't turn north!

[No Further Requirements]

Big Jan, sorry, I am but a poor ATCO and was just guessing why the 717s may not be OK for AS-DN. Thanks for the info about what they can really do. So, does anyone expect them in Darwin soon? I know heaps of people why try and get business upgrades as the legs out of Darwin are usually quite long. Thay may be a bit p!ssed off if there is no longer any business seats. Also, will the 717so the AS-Ph runs like the 146s do now? Cheers,

NFR.

[djembe56]

Big Jan - don't you mean when Impulse join NJS?

Overheard in LHR recently, couple of QF management pilots discussing future of the pulse. Suggested it was only a matter of time before GD gives NJS an ultimatum - buy/take-over Impulse and all Qlink jet services will be operated on a contractual basis with NJS getting fleet upgrade, or else Impulse will expand and NJS will miss out.

Any thoughts....

[Big Jan]

Djembe, where or what is LHR ?
I really don't think your suggestion that NJS will take over Impulse is likely to happen.It sounds just like the 600 odd other rumours doing the rounds at the moment.
Having said that, nothing would surprise me considering the events of the last 18 months.
As in all past major events within Impulse, as an employee I am sure I will be one of the last to know and will probably read about it on pprune or hear about it from the media.
NFR, in answer to your questions.... see all above! Sorry I can't help you with any answers.
:confused: :confused:

[Eastwest Loco]

London Heathrow airport Big Jan - that is LHR.

I cannot see bringing the 146 back to Tassie as a bad thing. The punters loved the eenie weenie 146-300s and they would be one of the most comfy economy configed jets I have ever flown on.

As for the fume problem, why did we never experience this at East West? It has cropped up time and time again with NJS and Southern and elsewhere, but I canot remember one instace with EWA. Is it a function of engineering that is lacking, or something that affects the 100-200 series only?

They are all running the same Avco-Lycoming helo turbines so what is different?

best all

EWL

[pa31p]

So, any (approx) dates as to the change over of the 717 to 146? And what routes? MEL-LST? SYD-LST?

What happened to the hangar/maintenacne base that was built for the Southern BAe 146's at LST? (not sure if it was even built).

Would be great to see the 146's back down here :D (from a spotters point of view anyway!)

[puff]

Perhaps because in EW service EWL they were pretty much brand new, in later years the EW a/c were the worst in the AN fleet when it came to the fumes problem and the WA 200s weren't effected anywhere near as bad.

As for the reasons behind it, god knows, it's been debated on here many times!

[Wingletts]

Guys...AS for the hot drinks on Mel-LST and Mel -HBA sectors cast your minds back to the old days when KD CRJ's offered a tea/coffee run on every of the 12 -15 fligths in and out of LST and HBA (sometimes with a 35 min flight time and tail wind into LST and 45-50 min service time into HBA!) ..plus a full meal and bar service..delivered with a happy disposition and friendly smile!...oh....And dont forget the tech crew- wouldn't have dare...!It can be and has been done.
Seems to be alot of spare time going on at 35,000 over the Strait..please correct me if im wrong!

:)

[ditzyboy]

Wingletts -
And when we had to do it yes it did get done. We were still sweating when pax were disembarking but yes it always got done!

The KD girls however had a higher FA to pax ratio and didn't have to set up three bloody meal carts after takeoff. Also weren't the KD dinners cold? The KD girls also didn't have to try to explain to every passenger the meal CHOICES! That was painstaking and time consuming!!!

FA: Would you care for the hot lamb korma or the cold chicken ceaser salad?
PAX: I'll have a Coke please.
FA: Would you like ice?
PAX: UUUUMMMM, yeh OK.
FA: Are you having something to eat?
PAX: UUUUMMMMM, what are the choices?
FA: Hot lamb korma or the cold chicken ceaser salad.
PAX: Do you have any vegetarian meals?
FA: No I am sorry. If you didn't order one...
PAX: I'll have the hot one.
FA: Thank you, we are serving tea and coffee shortly.
PAX: Actually I will have the cold one. Can you warm the chicken? Can I have both? What kind of rice is with the Korma?......... ARGHH! :rolleyes:

Oh and then there was the times that we didn't have the PAX's chioce left. Holy s**t! You didn't want to be around then!

[Bodum]

Might be worth noting that the current Qantas B733 Aircraft are being reconfigured to an all economy class config... As to which routes these newly configured aircraft will operate is anyones guess.

Interesting ;)

[Thylacine]

The Southern/NJS/Impulse/Qantas maintainance facility costing over $1 million was completed in late 2000 or just before Southern were rudely removed to Canberra. It stands forlorn and very empty.

The 146's were very comfortable and well accepted on the Tassie runs. The 717's don't offer shorter flight times Launceston / Melbourne and from experience in many cases run late which snowballs as the day progresses.

And finally not peculiar to the 146's, at least you used to get a meal at meal times and tea or coffee and a bar service at others. And no responses that it was because they were so slow PLEASE! Chock times were the same or better.

[apacau]

There's a very empty hangar in CBR for the 717s too.

[pa31p]

With rumours of the Boeing 717 being operated on the SYD-CBR route, maybe the BAe 146 is coming back to LST?

But WHEN :confused:

Anyone heard anymore?