Man jailed after faking being a Qantas aircraft engineer

by Jeffrey White on

I’ve got another Qantas story that came across my desk recently.

The BBC is reporting that an Australian man is behind bars and facing two years in jail after it was found that he had faked being a Qantas engineer for 10 months

The guy’s name is Timothy McCormack, and he admitted to some 42 different charges of deception, including forging an engineer’s license.

He was caught posing as a supervising engineer checking some 30 Qantas 747 airplanes at Sydney airport.

A Sydney judge said McCormack put thousands of passengers’ lives in jeopardy.

Qantas has been plagued with safety concerns this year, with several high profile incidents involving its aircraft. No word yet whether McCormack is being tied to a specific incident…

Qantas CEO Hints at Future Merger

by Josh Lew on

Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon might be stepping down from his post after eight hectic years, but he still has something to say about the future of the famous Australian airline. Though he did not announce a merger, Dixon stated that a future merger is “inevitable.”

“For Qantas, consolidation is highly desirable. It is in our interests to be at the leading edge of efforts to build a global airline grouping.”

However, he did not give any further details, leading some to believe that he is just letting off steam after running up against stiff government restrictions concerning the percentage of foreign ownership allowed of Australian airlines. Attempts to merge with Singapore Airlines and Air New Zealand were less than successful.

Dixon will leave Qantas in relatively stable condition, all things considered. He will hand a profitable company over to Alan Joyce, the current CEO of Jetstar (the low-cost-carrier affiliated with Qantas). The airline claims to have saved money because it operates more fuel-efficient aircraft.

[Related Story]

Qantas Owns up to Price Fixing

by Josh Lew on

Qantas is eager to put this year behind itself. Several mid-air incidents caused the airlines commitment to safety to come into question. Also, their plan to outsource labor caused a ruckus with local unions. Nonetheless, the Qantas is keeping its head above water. It dominates lucrative routes between the US and Australia and holds its own against stiff competition in Asia.

So when a price-fixing scandal involving the airline’s freight division came to public attention, Qantas was only too willing to make amends. Between 2002 and 2006, Qantas was one of over 30 airlines to charge unnecessary fuel surcharges. Virgin Atlantic and British Airways are the two high profile airlines already guilty of price fixing via fuel surcharges. But whereas the two London-based carriers’ scandal involved passengers, Qantas was only accused of fixing prices on air freight. Chief exec Geoff Dixon announced that the issue was settled before the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). A fine of AUS$20 million was paid to the ACCC. Last year, Qantas paid US$61 million for a related price-fixing charge in the US.

Bus accident at airport sends passengers to hospital in a travel snafu

by Jamie Rhein on

If you’ve flown enough, you’ve probably been on one of those buses that transport you between airport terminals.

When riding in such a vehicle, who really thinks about anything but making a connection? After reading this article about an accident at the Sydney Airport in Australia this morning, I’d say, here’s another reason to hope there’s enough time for terminal transfers in order to catch a flight.

This morning, a bus was bringing passengers from the international to a domestic terminal when the driver had to swerve quickly and slam on the brakes to avoid hitting another vehicle. I can imagine the body slams. Several people flew out of their seats. As a result, seven people were hurt, although nothing so serious that they couldn’t walk off the bus.

Still, I imagine there was quite a ruckus as paramedics in seven emergency vehicles arrived at the scene of the accident to check folks out. Several passengers were taken to the hospital for a careful, just in case, look over. Can’t you just hear the protests? “No, no, no, I’m fine, really. I have a flight to catch. I’ll miss my connection.”

That’s one way to experience a flight delay. Hopefully, folks found themselves winging their way to their destinations soon after, and had a kiss and make up ticket voucher in hand. With luck, there wasn’t another bus transport involved in the rest of their journey.

5 steps to smarter packing

Passenger arrested for not turning off his laptop

by Scott Carmichael on

A 35 year old “well dressed businessman” was arrested yesterday when he refused to turn off his laptop for the final approach of his Qantas flight. The passenger was on board flight QF418 from Melbourne to Sydney and apparently found whatever he was doing on his laptop to be more important than listening to flight attendant requests.

Upon landing, all passengers were told to stay seated while the Australian counter terrorist first response force arrived, taking the man into custody.

Witnesses report seeing the man being interrogated by 6 armed police officers in the airport terminal, but he was later released with no charges filed against him.

The only statement Qantas made, was that a male passenger had failed to comply with a captain’s directive. Let this be a lesson to everyone; listen to the flight attendant, and turn off your laptop when you are told to. There may be no evidence to confirm that a laptop will interfere with flight controls, but a 4 pound laptop can become a cabin projectile when the aircraft touches down.

What strange things have been found on planes?