Airbus A380 is a big plane and a big pain in the behind

by Scott Carmichael on

The Airbus A380 has been in service for over 16 months and a total of 13 of these monsters have been delivered to airlines around the world.

One of those airlines is Qantas, who use the plane on their Sydney-Los Angeles route.

Of course, a plane this big offers some major logistical challenges to designers, but the airports they visit get their fair share of hassles too.

Los Angeles airport has had to make special arrangements for the superjumbo, including shutting down service roads and halting other aircraft on taxiways when the plane is being positioned. The wingspan of the A380 is so big that it actually intrudes on the safety zone on either side of the tarmac.

When the A380 is ready for takeoff, air traffic controllers make sure their tower is fully staffed, and the plane receives priority over any other traffic. The plane is so big, that when it prepares to take off in bad weather, the tower tries to let it get airborne as soon as possible to prevent its jumbo size from blocking radio transmissions from airport towers.

Still, despite the hassles, the plane is a blessing for an airport suffering from the global decline in air traffic – LAX has lost 650 flights a day, and since airports make money off planes and passengers, having a superjumbo visit your airport is a sure way to make up for some of those losses.

(Via: LA Times Online)

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.

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?


Qantas Airlines makes second emergency landing in three days

by Jeffrey White on

I’ve flown on Qantas a few times over the years and always considered the flights pretty high up there in terms of travel experiences, especially on the long haul L.A.–>New Zealand–>Australia route.

But it seems that Australia’s national carrier, known in the past to be one of the world’s safest airlines, has been having some trouble of late.

Last night a Qantas flight from Adelaide to Melbourne had to turn around after 20 minutes and make an emergency landing when one of its landing gear doors would not shut. This came only three days after another Qantas flight had to make an emergency landing in the Philippines when a significant hole was found in the fuselage.

The flight yesterday was a Boeing 767-338 and the one that landed in the Philippines was a Boeing 747-400.

Consumer confidence is shaken. Many passengers on yesterday’s Adelaide-Melbourne flight refused to board another Qantas flight, opting instead to fly with other airlines or find ground transportation for the long trip to Melbourne, Australia’s Daily Telegraph says.

The newspaper has also compiled a complete list of Qantas mishaps since 2006. Read it here.

No injuries were reported in either incident, and Qantas corporate is downplaying the danger factor involved in the emergency landings.

And that’s something to consider: Has been inflated a bit by the media.

While a hole in a plane’s fuselage sounds to me pretty significant and worth the measures of an emergency landing, the landing gear door failure did not pose a significant threat to the flight, Qantas said. In fact, it was really a judgment call on the part of the pilot whether to continue flying with the wheel door open, which would have created much more drag. He decided to turn around.

A lot of you regularly read Kent Wien, Gadling’s resident airline pilot, who flies for a major airline. Here’s his take on this Qantas story:

“The Qantas article is pretty typical of the media. With so many departures a day, it’s easy to report on every maintenance issue when an airline has a high profile incident.

“At [my airline] we get a weekly summary of everything that has happened that week. There are usually 20 or more items more significant than this Qantas example in each report. Not bad considering we have 2500 departures a day.”

Thanks, Kent, for sharing your thoughts.