Today Tonight court case

[Guest ozzie]

anyone watching today tonight at the moment. CASA has lost a court case against T/Tonight over CASA keeping safety documents out of sight from the public concerning Qantas saftey issues. the judge deemed that the public does have a right to be informed over this.

 

some of theses issues are pretty dangerous, even discounting the media beat up of the issue.

 

What has also come to surface from the documents are some serious errors from CASA in approving overseas heavy maint. facilities.

 

CASA's disregarding and initial refusal to comply with the freedom of information acts just reinforces that CASA (incorrectly) belive that they are a power unto themselves.

 

 

[dazza 38]

Hi ozzie, i watched it.$300 000 to try and prevent the evidence being aired, is alot of tax payers money.I think that the %%%% is going to his the fan over this.I know what a/c maintence is like over seas.I mean the time i spent for BAE in Saudi Arabia."if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys". The staple being used to bridge a gap in a electrical ribbon, what a joke.450 defects, in a jet just out of a major service, i dont want to even go there.I think CASA is/will be in damage control (and qantas), over this what was aired tonight.If they have nothing to hide, why spend $300 000 AND THREE YEARS Fighting channel 7 over the release of documents.Watch this space

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

Give them enough rope and they'll hang themselves.

 

 

[BigPete]

Give them enough rope and they'll hang themselves.

We can but hope.

 

regards

 

 

[Ultralights]

Just dont ask the reason for the $0.03 Per Ltr tax increase on Avgas.... :Disappointed:

 

 

[HEON]

Watched it by chance and even allowing for the media beat up it's rearly an indicement of both CASA and Qantas.

 

Wish heads roll and the situation corrected but at my age I am not holding my breath.

 

Have we not just had a red head say words to the effect that it was not me but that Dud carracter? Can see the same sort of thing again.

 

 

[Yenn]

I would still rather fly with Qantas than most of the other airlines. Our media loves to beat the drum that Qantas are dangerous but their record says otherwise. I looked up Airline Safety recently on the net and tne safety site said that Qantas were No 2 in the world for safety. They also said that No 1 was KLM. I wonder where the safety experts are hiding their heads, KLM lost more people in 1 accident (sorry atrocity) than Qantas has lost in total.

 

 

[winsor68]

Our media loves to beat the drum that Qantas are dangerous but their record says otherwise.

Which record are you referring to Yenn? Must be a broken record...

 

 

[Guest Andys@coffs]

One time I was in the USA on exercise with the RAAF and a show over there was discussing safety with large RPT's. I think it was an American Airlines senior manager that when queried on those Aussies Safety record, specifically Qantas, the AA guy laughed and said, we fly more hours per year than they have ever flown and for them to say "No Accidents in X years" is the same as us saying "No Accidents in the last 3 months" his point was that the general American flying public would be somewhat unimpressed with such a claim, so why then were they so impressed with the Qantas claim which to his mind equated to the same thing.

 

I must admit I believe that when you are comparing the majority of western society long term airlines, that gone are the days when they really had that something that set them apart from each other. That to my mind all went when RPT Airtravel was considered luxurious rather that the PIA that it really is, where all providers are actively looking for that something which can return a cent or two extra per sector seat. Of course if we want it to go back to the way it was then we must be prepared to pay the 3-4 times or more what it cost in real terms. If that were to occur then you could be geneuinely upset when the reading light didnt work or the seat back just wouldnt lock and stay upright etc...

 

Theres only one airline that I really enjoy travelling....Andys Airline and the ontime performance is woeful. The travelling public (ie the wife) has complained to the boss but he just doesnt give a sh*t about all those tiresome Service Levels..

 

Andy..... CEO and chief pilot of ANdys Airlines

 

 

[winsor68]

As someone working in the industry (ground crew) I would happily go back to the old days... Most people aren't aware that the cheap fares have come at the expense of my wages...

 

 

[Thalass]

Qantas claim that they've never lost an aircraft to an accident. But they have spent months and millions repairing an aircraft that ought to have been scrapped, just to get it flying again for a few months before 'retiring' it. I know of this happening twice. :P

 

Of course there are going to be defects coming out of heavy maintenance. In theory the aircraft will be as good as new after a C or D check, but the schedule is constantly being squeezed to shorter and shorter times, and tighter and tighter budgets. We can expect maybe 5 or 10 defects on MEL after a major check. But 450! Holy moly.

 

As it has been said: You pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

 

 

[winsor68]

"As it has been said: You pay peanuts, you get monkeys."

 

Soon there will only be monkeys left in the industry...

 

 

[Ultralights]

Soon there will only be monkeys left in the industry...

what d you mean soon? we have sheetmetal workers now coming out of their trade that have no idea or experience in Hand forming!

 

 

[Thalass]

All the smart engineers (and me) will be on orbit doing turnarounds for SpacEx or Virgin Galactic. :D

 

 

[farri]

Theres only one airline that I really enjoy travelling....Andys Airline and the ontime performance is woeful. The travelling public (ie the wife) has complained to the boss but he just doesnt give a sh*t about all those tiresome Service Levels..Andy..... CEO and chief pilot of ANdys Airlines

I love it,the other one that comes to mind is, Franks airline.

 

Cheers,

 

Frank.

 

 

[facthunter]

Standards.

 

With fares cheaper than bus and rail, what do you expect? Corners are cut. Management never look inside the maintenance section. Spares are not carried and work is done on outdated machinery, under pressure of getting the plane back on line rapidly.

 

The airfares are artificially low and have been for 10 or 15 years. Most travelling people I know will go for the absolute lowest fare regardless of the reputation of the airline, so what hope have you got raising the standard. It would NOT need a doubling of fares or anything like that, but around 10% would be a good start.

 

Then you might not have to be packed in like starving cattle trying to get sustenence from a "biscuit chucker". I don't think I could face a trip to Europe in steerage these days. Think I'de arrive there looking and feeling like twopennuth of God helpus. Nev.

 

 

[Thalass]

Oh I know. The flight from Perth to Toronto is horrible in cattle class. 36 hours travel time, including stopovers and stuff. I'd rather spend a week in an airship, where you have a bed and can wander around. Or 90 minutes in a cramped suborbital airliner :P Either way would be better than the guts of a 747 or A380 for that long.

 

 

[Guest Sharp End]

Either way would be better than the guts of a 747 or A380 for that long.

You wanna try 8+ hours strapped into an ejection seat! Now I remember why I retired! :big_grin: Anyway, what's this thread about? :confused:

 

S-E.

 

 

[winsor68]

Low airfares are no excuse for shoddy maintenance practices... It is wages that the real cuts have been made.

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

going by virgin qantas ect is reasonbly safe at least the average age of their fleet is what, 10 years or less. how about the poor souls in small outback towns who have to fly on piston powered twins/singles. what is the age of these aircraft? 30 years or so? avg hrs of the young newbie pilots flying these? gaining time to make it to the big game? shhsh makes me shudder.

 

ozzie

 

 

[Thalass]

Low airfares are no excuse for shoddy maintenance practices... It is wages that the real cuts have been made.

I agree. The wage for a LAME hasn't changed and, in fact, has gone down by about 5-10k, in the ten years since i started my apprenticeship. Meanwhile house prices are about 4x the 2000 price, and fuel is a good 50% on top of 2000.

 

While engineers were struggling to get 3%, the CEO gets 25% without question. It's great for moral.

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

I have great respect for country folk. you miss my point. because of the way the whole scene is many small towns do not have access to newer more modern fleet of aircraft. what is the average age of the chieftans? 30 years?. If the routes were more sensible towards making a profit then maybe REX, aeropelican ect could fly the routes with their more modern turbine fleets. flying light piston twins scares the ... out of me. Hot, max weight, low time pilots add EFATO ... well we read about that don't we.

 

 

[eightyknots]

Just dont ask the reason for the $0.03 Per Ltr tax increase on Avgas.... :Disappointed:

How does CASA tax planes that use Mogas? Someone flying behind a Rotax is really paying for the next motorway extension :big_grin:

 

 

[Tomo]

I agree. The wage for a LAME hasn't changed and, in fact, has gone down by about 5-10k, in the ten years since i started my apprenticeship. Meanwhile house prices are about 4x the 2000 price, and fuel is a good 50% on top of 2000. While engineers were struggling to get 3%, the CEO gets 25% without question. It's great for moral.

Doesn't seem to be the case for aviation yet, but I was talking to a retailer the other day, they printed two invoices that day. One for $43, and a return credit for $28. It really makes you wonder how some of these guys can still run. With three or more workers.

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

How does CASA tax planes that use Mogas? Someone flying behind a Rotax is really paying for the next motorway extension :big_grin:

I do belive that farmers get some sort of rebate for diesel for off road use, maybe Tomo or another farmer can confirm that and if it extends to petrol and lpg.

When i was working on airports and racing season started and they cameand purchased 100ll of us they had to sign a statement that the fuel was not going to be used in road vehicles, if it was we had to charge the applicable tax. maybe there is a road tax refund for road fuel that is not going to be used in road vehicles and it is not overly advertised by the state and federal govts which is typical of them when it comes to things like this. maybe a letter to your state and federal mp can clarify. probably save you 20% or so on your fuel bill. I do belive tho that this is a job for our fearless leaders in the RAAus to be on top off.