Qantas Planes Now Falling Apart

[Mr Qantas]

I'm not a manager just a member of the public that cares about our airline but I was a Foreman and very grateful that qantas gave me the oportunities that I got over many years. My point is what I said in case you cant read. Cusins and his mates in what was once a fine union are on a payback campain because they want to run the airline but cant. They just need to understand that the best managers got picked and him and his mates arent them. I have worked with many good people like John Vincent and Murray Harris and what the workers has to do is just embrace the ideas and put some trust in the leadership that is there. Thats just the way it is you cant just buck the system because you are jelous.

[The Mr Fixit]

First time I've seen Creedy write something decent perhaps he's not the the airline puppet many make him out to be..........Mr Qantas it's more than obvious that you're still working at QF or have very close ties........you let the cat out of the bag and then ran over it with your car

[vortsa]

Mr Qantas is he the same John Vincent that was leading Ansett Engineering when they crashed and burned.???? Ah... Now I understand what's happening.

I believe his position then was 'Executive General Manager of Engineering'.

Same problems same management, when will they ever learn. Obviously a man that lives in denial.

[archangel7]

I think most of us are a bit sick of reading about the smallest issue on Qantas aircraft such as a hydraulic leak casuing 2 hour delays.

Mate ..... a hydraulic leak is not a small issue and it could be catastrophic if it happened in the air. I actually think the media are doing fantastic job and good on them for keeping us all informed of the slackness of Qantas. By the looks of things, there is an accident just waiting to happen with Qantas, so thanks to the media I am staying well away from Qantas as a PAX. The way Qantas are treating there aircraft and staff lately they don’t deserve to be in the air at all.

[Tempo]

Archangel7.....the correct word is 'their' as opposed to there.

Do you work for Qantas? DO you have any idea of what is actually going on apart from what is written on this site and in the newspapers (and we all know how accurate that is)???

[zzoott]

Virgin do 2 rejects in Melbourne this week with no media coverage and QF make the news due a Tech delay on the gate!!!!!!

[Capt Fathom]

Mahatmacoat...

just boarding now are 400 pax on the QF 31 bound for LHR after a 6 hour delay

The only part of that statement which is accurate is QF 31 bound for LHR...

Hard hitting stuff

[flyingfox]

Our Airline

Why keep referring to Qantas as 'our airline'? It has been flogged off; just like Telstra and the Commonwealth Bank. It is just another money generating concern for shareholders both local and foreign. The name of the game is Profit. Qantas will only stand proud again if it has management that cares about the brand name for the long term and shareholders who have realistic expectations of earnings. Any fool can turn a profit by fleecing an established organization. (Anyone seen Ansett lately?) Not riding the company into the ground while turning that profit is the long term challenge. Despite any rhetoric about the future from Qantas management, the Dixon era is about profits now. You can't ensure the future of an airline when it's staff are viewed just as expenses or where technical people and their expertise rates lower than the boardroom carpet.

[vortsa]

Is it more likely that Boeing will do the VH-OJK repairs rather than the Manila facility ?

I believe that will be the case too complex a rebuild to leave in the hands of an MRO. Like VH-OJH no matter how much or how long,the bill paid for by insurance company. Big plus for QANTAS they wanted to put some A/C up against the fence for awhile any way, this time they are getting paid lost revenue money from the Insurance.

Also hear that rebuild want start 'til at least November, waiting for hangar space. ( It might be quicker to build their own hangar, heaven knows they will probably want to use it again, and again, and again.....

[socks]

Small panel falls off Qantas jet en route to Singapore
20 hours ago
SYDNEY (AFP) — Australia's largest airline Qantas revealed a small body panel fell off a jet en route to Singapore Friday, the latest malfunction to beset the carrier in recent weeks.
Routine checks on the Boeing 747-400 found the engine access panel was missing after it arrived at Singapore's Changi Airport, a Qantas spokeswoman said.
"This had absolutely no flight safety implications," she told AFP.
The non-structural panel, which measured 30 x 30 centimetres (12 x 12 inches), was replaced and the flight continued to London, she added.
The incident comes after weeks of embarrassing malfunctions for the airline, including a mid-air blast, believed to be caused by an exploding oxygen bottle, which blew a hole into the fuselage of a plane last month and forced an emergency landing in Manila.

Not entirely correct 'Qantas spokes person' If it wasn't that important it would have been covered buy a CDL and there would have been no delay.
The area behind that panel requires it to be a containment area for fire extinguishing. So with out this panel in place (if) a fire had started on that engine there would not have been effective containment.

I would certainly think this was a safety implication.

[Keg]

Is it more likely that Boeing will do the VH-OJK repairs rather than the Manila facility ?

Once upon a time it would have been QF's own AOG team. Alas but most of them came from SYD Heavy Maintenance and overwhelming majority of them have been either forced into redundancy or taken it voluntarily. One of the lead engineers with OJH in BKK took a great package but is now back consulting from time to time. He indicated that we just don't have the capacity to do this work ourselves now. Of course the Boeing repairs will cost a truck load more than it would have had we done the work ourselves but that never factors into the planning.

Big plus for QANTAS they wanted to put some A/C up against the fence for awhile any way, this time they are getting paid lost revenue money from the Insurance.

Nope, this leaves us desperately short of capacity. The aircraft that QF keeps talking about pushing up against the fence were always going in the time frame mentioned. Now what we have is 767s going back to SIN and HKG over the next few months to make up for A330s and classics being re-deployed to cover for OJK being in the repair shop.

Like VH-OJH no matter how much or how long,the bill paid for by insurance company.

This shows your ignorance. Repair bill for OJH came in at about $90mill USD. The cost of a used 744 in '99 of the quality of OJH (prior to the prang obviously) was significantly more than that. The cost of a new 744 was about $180mill. Those that claim the aircraft was repaired to save face simply don't know the facts.

[1746]

Perfect response from MR QANTAS!

A fantastic and realistic display of QANTAS management attitude.

What you fail to realise MR QANTAS is that the vast majority of Qantas Engineering employees know that what is being said is based on fact.

Yes, every airline has technical issues and unserviceabilities daily, but "Sustainable Futures" has meant that everyone is trying to do their best without the necessary resources to be able to complete the task.

A complete lack of spares, a disfunctional IT system, replacement of centuries of LAME experience with unlicensed AMEs who through no fault of their own have infinitely less hands on experience, basically eliminating any on-going training, more aircraft and a lack of hangar space all combine to give a glimpse of the reality. One could add all those OH&S programs but what is the point.

Any unbiased analysis of QE would suggest that management has deliberately set out to destroy a once functional and effective world leading organisation, into what? I guess the future will tell!!!!

[vortsa]

Keg thanks for the clarification but I notice you didn't dispute the fact below.

This time they are getting paid lost revenue money from the Insurance.

So pax loads for a 744 on the kangaroo route for 5 months ??? is a good little earn. Everyone always likes to get back a little insurance at times it helps relieve the pain of paying through the nose for many years.

[Cap'n Arrr]

To the news media:

I would pay attention to what you were saying if you only reported on things that WERE dangerous. A plane delayed for an hour or so while a new part is installed to replace one that was found broken is, no matter how much you would like it to be, NOT a safety incident. Something needed to be fixed, and instead of just going anyway, it was replaced. Where is the problem? Are you saying that everytime you take your car to the mechanic, that nothing is ever found to be broken?

Don't know about this particular incident, so holding off on judgement there, but Fk I'm sick of delays being reported as emergencies.

[Keg]

vortsa, my lack of comment on that particular issue should not be interpreted as agreeance. I simply have no information on that issue and therefore made no comment. It could well be that QF 'self insure' in this area- as they do for a number of others- but I really have no idea.

Therefore you may be right but you may be wrong.

[The cougar]

Mr Qantas are you one of the Newport aviation scabs working in LA now, on less money now the LAME PIA is over as management know you cant get a job anywhere else in the aviation world. And also to say that MH and JV are upstanding people is obsurd. Do I sense a lisp in your speech with your speech slops.

[jamsquat]

I do believe it true that Qantas do "self insure". The money that would have been spent on premiums for an entire fleet is "wisely"invested for a rainy day!!! $90m for repairs would be less than a single years insurance costs for the company, one would think. typically 1percent of hull value??1.8 mil per 747!!! How many Aircraft do the qantas group own?JS

[Going Boeing]

jamsquat, have a re-read of Keg's post. It appears that you have misunderstood what he was saying.

Vortsa said:
Like VH-OJH no matter how much or how long,the bill paid for by insurance company.

At the time of the BKK incident, OJH was insured for $187m and the repair was $96m. These facts don't stop people maliciously posting that Qantas would spend whatever it takes to avoid a hull write-off.

Big plus for QANTAS they wanted to put some A/C up against the fence for awhile any way, this time they are getting paid lost revenue money from the Insurance.

OJK is insured and will be repaired as the aircraft is desperately needed back in service. There are international flights cancelled everyday because there is no spare capacity to replace it - eg the QF2 LHR-BKK-SYD on Mon 25 Aug (and obviously a northbound service) has been cancelled. This is at a time of the year when bookings are heavy with holiday makers as well as business travellers.

[packrat]

Another Cancellation due lack of aircraft

QF8 ex LAX next Thursday.21/08/2008

[ALAEA Fed Sec]

G'day all,

Can someone please email me with some info related to these comments out of CASA. We are just a little concerned with the info that seems to be fed to the Senior CASA people from the so called CASA engineers. First example of this was when Peter Gibson declared the stapled wiring safe because it was in a 12 volt system (it is 115). I need to know if there is MEL or CDL relief for missing rb211 oil service door. Also interested in how CASA have already determined that a door was not locked down properly.

Mr Gibson said there was no way of telling whether the spate of problems is any greater than at any other time.

He said yesterday's incident, involving the loss midflight of a 747 engine inspection cover, was far from serious.

"It just means that someone didn't lock it down properly before take-off," he said.

Mr Gibson also noted that CASA engineers said that the aircraft is certified to fly without the cover.

"Legally Qantas did not have to replace it and they could have flown on without a problem.

It's nice to see that CASA are fully supportive of pre-flight checks, we will now be asking them why they allow other Domestic carriers to transit aircraft without these checks.

"A lot of these things are found when planes are on the ground and that's what the inspections are there for.

"That's why the inspections are there and when a problem is found it gets fixed."

Please email any technical info to my address as linked from alaea website.

cheers