Merged: A330s for VB - Sth Africa and Phuket gone for VA - pick up Abu dhabi

[The Bunglerat]

Here is the problem in Australian Aviation
"unless T&C's are at least equal to"

Birdyzone, you are quite right. What I should have simply said was: "Better than." Consider it a slip of the tongue.

For the record, I am not interested if T&C's are the same as far as base salary is concerned, as I might as well stay exactly where I am - & save myself the grief of refresher training, check to line, being a guinea pig for new type, etc. That said, I've always been a "big picture" person - & my remark about conditions being 'equal to or better than' was not meant to imply that I would fly a bigger aeroplane for the same dollars I'm on now; but with regard to things like days off, meal allowances, etc, I would accept conditions equal to what I currently enjoy. Even so, bigger aeroplane = more $$$, & you won't get any disagreement from me there. It's just that base salary is only one of numerous variables, & let's face it - right now there's nothing on the table yet, so as usual it's all speculation for now.

[Bill Lear]

Hi there,

Cabin Crew 747, remember Phucket, Joberg and Feegee were decisions made during the God-Free reign. Just a few to add to the stellar list.

[VBPCGUY]

Pretty good moves for mine, Im looking forward to handling the A332's. I think 2 is what could eventually out to be 10-15 the beginning at the moment. E170's gone next year, 3 more E190's coming

[AirborneSoon]

Additionally, customers may be losing faith in the company due to all the recent swapping and changing, especially V Aus corporate clients. The company can't really be relied on after cutting JNB, HKT and Fiji after such short periods of operation. Even if some of these routes where never meant to be long term, business customers may not appreciate it.

I disagree, as biz travellers don't give care about fiji, phuket and possibly Joberg they probably won't even notice the changes let alone be affected by them. I think the network realignment was a smart and necessary decision. The destinations being cut are hardly hubs for onward travel and were always going to be limited in their profitability. I'm very happy to see the 777 being put to good use. We only have a few of those planes so to spread across 2 destinations only is a good idea for service recovery. Better to have decent frequency to a useful destination than 2 services a week to a resort no-one wants to visit.

[piston broke again]

I must admit, it makes nice change everyone waving and giving each other courtesy since the meeting. VB, QF and JQ! Good to see.

[EW73]

VirginBlue to get airbus A330s

There goes VB...

One of the main considerations I have when either, one of my family or myself fly within Australia, is that I always know it will be operated by a Boeing.

If that situation changes, VB will be no better off than all the others.

[404 Titan]

EW73

I gather then you have trouble telling the difference between a B737 and an E170/190. DJ has been operating the Brazilian Jungle Jet for a number of years now.

If you truly base your decision on which airline you fly with because they fly Boeing rather than Airbus it indicates to me you are living in a delusion. Both aircraft manufacturers build very good aircraft as evidenced in their sales numbers.

[1a sound asleep]

VB WARNING

Dont end up like AN with 123 different a/c types and end up complicating things

Remember - B767-200/B767-300ER/B737-300/A320-200/BAe-146-200/CRJ/B727

[F111]

Why does everyone keep bringing up Ansett's fleet types, what about Qantas. At the time Ansett fell over QF had 733,734,738, 762, 763, 743 and 744 with A380's and A330 on order. If you include their Qlink ops and Impulse you can add the Dash 8 and 717.

If you look at QF now, they have the 734, 738, 763, 744, A330 and A380. Throw in the Qlink op and they have the Dash 8 and 717. With Jetstar having A320 and A330's.

Virgins fleet will be 190 (doing the long thin routes), 737/738 doing most of the domestic routes, A330 operating East coast west coast, the golden triangle and perhaps into Asia and the 777 doing the long haul stuff. 4 types operating on routes that suite each type. The only change I see would be the addition of a turboprop to go head to head with Qlink on regional routes in NSW and QLD.

[tourismman]

The Australian Financial Review stated it understands that Virgin Blue will take on a further 5 A330-200's from Emirates making a total of 7.

[neville_nobody]

Ask someone who has flown it and I doubt you would find anyone who hasn't loved it.

There would be a particular QF crew who aren't the biggest fans of the aircraft....staring at the ocean whilst you are pulling full back on the sidestick doesn't inspire confidence in ones machine

[mrdeux]

Ask someone who has flown it and I doubt you would find anyone who hasn't loved it.

Well, actually I know quite a few people who flew it, and then jumped back onto a Boeing at the first opportunity. Most of them have little good to say about it.

BTW, I fly AB.

[Dora-9]

I flew for an airline with large fleets of both B777's and A330's.

To a man, the Boeing guys loved their aeroplane; the most favourable Airbus comment I ever got was a very dry "it's OK, I guess".

Go figure!

[43Inches]

Based on statistics of aircraft that have significant flight hours vs accidents the safest aircraft is the 777, followed by the A340 and then the A320 family. If you only take into account the 737 600-900 model then it comes next, although that doesn't take into account the 3 accidents this year involving the type. If you include all 737 types number four is the SAAB 340. The 767 and A330 are about even now with the latest accidents down the list with the other similar sized aircraft.

Interesting that a 30 year old turboprop design beats all its regional jet competitors (CRJ, ERJ) for safety and cost.

If you dig deeper into the statistics and compare accidents caused by an actual aircraft system fault other than pilot error or external factor the A320 is much safer than the 737 and the A330 and 767 are still about even.

[Mr. Hat]

crawl over each other to ride the widebody.

If there is one thing you can say about the senior guys at VB is that they won't do this. They told Swift to jam his 777. Mr. Hat tips his Hat to that!

Money and conditions talk. Big aeroplanes are great but only when they come with commensurate pay and conditions. A fair days pay for a fair days work. Noones trying to get rich out of flying we just want to try and keep up with plumbers and electricians.

[Normasars]

Hat,

if you are trying to keep up with Plumbers and Sparky's, I would advice you give flying away now. These guys don't go and cut each others lunch. Their bosses are not warning them of the Chicken Little stuff and the garbage about commercial pressures etc etc. The tradies just jack their prices up and pass it on to the customer. We, as the customer, have no choice but to pay extra. Quite easy really.

[rmcdonal]

E170's gone next year,

Can they get the E190 into YPMQ? Or will they drop the Port?

[nitpicker330]

I've flown both and let me tell you the Airbus ain't no 777


Airbus:--
Sidestick: good but needs feedback to make it better
Thrust levers: how they got away with them not moving and giving ZERO feeback is a mystery.
Table: good
Seats: more comfortable without the cutout for the yoke in the Boeing
Noise: going a bit slower and is quieter
Airflow in Cockpit: controlled better than the drafty 777
Fuel system: Holy crap batman
ECAM: Crap
QRH: Jesus where do I start
EFIS: Crap and too small for old farts to see!!
FCU: needlessly complicated modes.
Landing gear: the first touchdown is on you, the second is on Airbus and is a real pain in the ass!!
Speed stability: what speed stability!!

Boeing:
Yokes: move together like a REAL Aircraft and so do the Thrust levers, much easier while flying yourself AND more importantly monitoring while the F/O flies. You can see what he's doing much clearer before it may be too late to fix a stuff up. Especially in the Flare!!
Electronic checklist: wonderful and unlike the ECAM it works
EFIS: big bright clear uncluttered screens
Overhead panel: nice big switches/PB's, uncluttered layout simple to see
Fuel system: built for dummies to run
Landing Gear: Nice soft Landings easy to achieve most landings
Load carrying: way ahead, actually can carry Pax AND Freight at the same time
System redundancy: much better on the 777


This is just a few things that spring to mind immediately.
At the end of the day the Bus is "ok I guess" ( as one person quoted above ) it gets the job done.

[Captain Dart]

A real 'QANTAS killer' would be introduction of a business class and a re-brand as Ansett !

[nitpicker330]

Yes, we all hope the A350 is a big improvement over the 330.