[QUOTE][Do gag orders have an expiry? It would be a shame if this book never saw daylight./QUOTE]

The parties reached a settlement so it will not be published.

Yes apparently it was quite an 'agreement' too

The Townsville Refueller tells me that's just like the continued silencing of the ABC's 4 Corners program, with their investigation on the "insider" set up of National Jet Sys red-tail regional ops and it's owner then!

"...will not be published." ...no but there's always a stray PDF hanging around somewhere isn't there? Anyone checked WikiLeaks or called Julian?

VH-OQA is off to AUH. Apparently for heavy maintenance and reconfiguration. Does that put paid to rumours that QF would be scrapping/retiring its early A380s?

The very fact that Nancy-Bird was very recently painted into the new livery makes it odd that people would think she'd be getting retired.

It might be odd, it may not, there is no way to ultimately ascertain whether that particular aircraft is indeed part of the batch, although it is an early build.
Aircraft have been painted and refurbished, only to have been retired, refurbished again or otherwise returned to lessor.

Qantas do need a new fleet.

After speaking to some of the framies (ex RAAF and QF) from AUH that are about to do a deep level maintenance job and refurbishment on a QF 380, they are unaware of any wing problem . They did drink lots of beer at the rugby after watching their kids be beaten by the Exiles .(you need to be there). Interested in what transpires.

The conspiracy theorist in me would quote Mandy Rice Davies 'Well, he would (say that) wouldn't he?', but I specifically raised that wing issue with a very senior manager a few days ago. The denial started with a laugh, then exasperation in the voice saying 'NO - and you are the 3rd person TODAY to ask me that!'. The discussion then moved on to how to stop rumours as you are damned if you do and damned if you don't. The fear was that as soon as something as serious as that type of issue is mentioned in a print denial, it may lead to it gaining even more traction, and further afield.

I'm convinced that the manager in question was being honest by saying NOT TRUE, and was genuinely exasperated at the extent of the rumour and more concerned at how to shut it down without creating a PR nightmare. Of course, whether said manager was being lied to themselves is a question I cannot answer....

It isn't known whether the issue affects the early build A380 operated by Qantas, but the connection did suggest the issue did affect some aircraft.
With the litany of lies told to staff, shareholders and the government alike, Little Napoleon has added modern polish to 'the boy who cried wolf'.
After all, Qantas International was 'terminal'. Little Napoleon made the decision all by himself on a Saturday to ground the airline He required AUD$3 billion of taxpayer largess, recorded a huge paper loss as the Book value of long inflated International fleet was finally written down, convincing the staff a 'pay freeze' was necessary, only to miraculously 'transform' the business the very next financial year. A fortunate coincidence was the millions of options vesting at 'amazingly' the same time.

That the said manager, presumed to be within the flying operation, might not be told the truth is a fair assumption to make.
Either way,

Qantas need a new fleet.

Well the 747s are coming to the rescue this week with ZNG out (I heard it was hit by a VA catering truck - not sure if it true). So running the 8 aircraft with no pad in the schedule will come back to cost you when you don't have a spare.

The 747 will operate the MELHKg run on Saturday and also doing MELSFO in the coming days. The 330s are also having significant issues.

The 747 wont be around to save the day forever......

Presumably Little Napoleon can read, even his old buddy Sir Tim is having another look at the A380 orders.
Presumably a Book Value of these aircraft is close to zero once EK pulls the rug from under the factory..

https://ca.reuters.com/article/busin...CN1PP2C7-OCABS

Beats the day to to grind of actually strategically directing, fleeting and running an airline.
Little Napoleon is looking for distraction as the axiomatic problems continue to surface.

With a huge JQ order and no where to place the existing air frames (think Network), buy another competitor with a fleet age of 26 years and farm out more aircraft.

Qantas need a new fleet.
They are desperate for leadership