James Gota

Qantas chief defends maintenance record Posted 1 hour 24 minutes ago Updated 1 hour 21 minutes ago The head of Qantas says he stands by the airline's maintenance record despite another two mid-air equipment failures. A Qantas flight from Los Angeles to Sydney has been forced to 'piggyback' an Air New Zealand plane after its weather radar failed. And a Sydney-bound flight was forced to make an emergency landing in Melbourne this afternoon because of problems with its landing gear indicators. Geoff Dixon says he believes recent incidents, including one in Western Australia in which scores of people were injured when a Qantas airbus suddenly lost altitude, were not the airline's fault. "Those two major incidents look like they were more to do with the manufacture of the aircraft or parts of the aircraft than anything to do with Qantas' maintenance," he said. "I don't think that that's a well known fact and as you know once something gets out there it's always hard to take it back." From http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/10/29/2404980.htm Plane most likely Boeing 747-400 ? Any Details ? Qantas flight with faulty antenna "piggybacked" by Air New Zealand planeFont Size: Decrease Increase Print Page: Print By Justin Vallejo | October 29, 2008 A QANTAS flight was forced to "piggyback" an Air New Zealand plane and divert to Auckland after its weather antenna stopped working three hours out of Los Angeles. In the latest Qantas incident, over 280 passengers on board flight QF 12 arrived in Sydney four hours late today after repairs to the aircraft in New Zealand. In a rare and extraordinary sight, passengers earlier awoke to a high-altitude dawn with a close-up view of the Air New Zealand jet off their left wing. A Qantas spokesman said passengers were not in danger and the flight continued in safety to New Zealand. "The weather antenna wasn't working to their full satisfaction,'' the spokesman said. "They chose the safest option to divert to Auckland, which had preferable weather to other diversion options, coupled with the fact the Air New Zealand plane was there to provide guidance. "The aircraft were vertically separated at all time and governed by air traffic control.'' The Air New Zealand flight was 35km away from the Qantas plane when the captain made radio contact asking for assistance. The two planes came within a couple of thousand feet of each other as weather updates from the Air New Zealand flight were relayed across radio to the Qantas plane. From http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story...3-26103,00.html

BA and Qantas fined millions for price-fixing British Airways and Qantas have been fined millions of pounds for their part in an international freight price fixing cartel. The airlines reached a settlement today with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, (ACCC) which brought the action over the alleged price fixing of fuel surcharges in the international air cargo market from 2002-2006. Qantas, Australia’s national airline, agreed to pay an £8 million ($AU20 million) fine in the Federal Court in Sydney. The ACCC said BA had also reached an agreement, which, along with the Qantas fine, still has to be approved by a judge. However the regulator would not disclose the sum. The cartel has been the subject of ongoing inquiries and actions by regulators in the US and Europe, as well as class action suits in the US, Australia and Britain. Related Links OFT charges BA executives with price-fixing Overcharged passengers to claim compensation The Australian regulator’s chairman Graeme Samuel said BA and Qantas were the first airlines to be proceeded against in Australia “because both came forward and voluntarily made admissions under the ACCC’s cooperation policy”. “Qantas has continued to assist and provide evidence both in relation to its own conduct and that of others,” Mr Samuel said. “British Airways has also provided significant information as to its own role and that of others. It too has made available staff to assist and voluntarily respond to multiple requests for information and undertaken to continue doing so.” In November 2007 Qantas apologised for engaging in price-fixing activity on cargo in the US and agreed to pay a £39 million ($US61 million). Last May, a former Qantas executive accepted an eight-month jail term as part of a plea agreement with the US Department of Justice, which had also secured guilty pleas by BA, Japan Airlines and Korean Air Lines. In August four BA executives were charged with criminal price-fixing. In April, Japan Airlines pleaded guilty to conspiring to fix air cargo prices and paid a £70 million ($US110 million) fine. British Airways and Korean Air Lines pleaded guilty last year and paid £191 million ($US300 million) in fines. In February 2006, US and European officials raided airlines as part of the probe, which centred on the imposition of fuel surcharges in the international air cargo market. Today, Qantas Chief Executive Officer, Geoff Dixon, again apologised on behalf of the airline. “Qantas apologises unreservedly for the conduct of the employees involved,” Mr Dixon said in a statement. “All Qantas employees are expected to comply with the law and we take any failure to comply very seriously.” The investigations, involving more than 30 other airlines, could take another two years to complete. From http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/busi...icle5028138.ece Maybe if both of them stop price fixing they wouldn't get so much fines

BA and Qantas fined millions for price-fixing British Airways and Qantas have been fined millions of pounds for their part in an international freight price fixing cartel. The airlines reached a settlement today with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, (ACCC) which brought the action over the alleged price fixing of fuel surcharges in the international air cargo market from 2002-2006. Qantas, Australia’s national airline, agreed to pay an £8 million ($AU20 million) fine in the Federal Court in Sydney. The ACCC said BA had also reached an agreement, which, along with the Qantas fine, still has to be approved by a judge. However the regulator would not disclose the sum. The cartel has been the subject of ongoing inquiries and actions by regulators in the US and Europe, as well as class action suits in the US, Australia and Britain. Related Links OFT charges BA executives with price-fixing Overcharged passengers to claim compensation The Australian regulator’s chairman Graeme Samuel said BA and Qantas were the first airlines to be proceeded against in Australia “because both came forward and voluntarily made admissions under the ACCC’s cooperation policy”. “Qantas has continued to assist and provide evidence both in relation to its own conduct and that of others,” Mr Samuel said. “British Airways has also provided significant information as to its own role and that of others. It too has made available staff to assist and voluntarily respond to multiple requests for information and undertaken to continue doing so.” In November 2007 Qantas apologised for engaging in price-fixing activity on cargo in the US and agreed to pay a £39 million ($US61 million). Last May, a former Qantas executive accepted an eight-month jail term as part of a plea agreement with the US Department of Justice, which had also secured guilty pleas by BA, Japan Airlines and Korean Air Lines. In August four BA executives were charged with criminal price-fixing. In April, Japan Airlines pleaded guilty to conspiring to fix air cargo prices and paid a £70 million ($US110 million) fine. British Airways and Korean Air Lines pleaded guilty last year and paid £191 million ($US300 million) in fines. In February 2006, US and European officials raided airlines as part of the probe, which centred on the imposition of fuel surcharges in the international air cargo market. Today, Qantas Chief Executive Officer, Geoff Dixon, again apologised on behalf of the airline. “Qantas apologises unreservedly for the conduct of the employees involved,” Mr Dixon said in a statement. “All Qantas employees are expected to comply with the law and we take any failure to comply very seriously.” The investigations, involving more than 30 other airlines, could take another two years to complete. From http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/busi...icle5028138.ece Maybe if both of them stop price fixing they wouldn't get so much fines

Boeing Non this week orders Deliveries Airbus Airbus booked 31 new orders and delivered 34 aircraft during September, bringing its total orders to 9,175 and raising overall deliveries 5,366. The month's orders were paced by two separate single-aisle and widebody acquisitions: MAZ Aviation's order for six VIP-configured A350 XWB Prestige aircraft (one A350-800 and five A350-900s); and CIT Aerospace's purchase of two additional A319s plus eight A320s. MAZ Aviation's A350 XWB Prestige deal is the first for this type in the Middle East, and is the largest single order ever for Airbus corporate jetliners. All six of the aircraft will feature VIP cabins, and are to be powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines. The CIT Aerospace A319/A320 contract brings its order book to 199 Airbus aircraft, comprising 157 A320 Family aircraft, 30 A330s, seven A350s and five A319s for executive and private use. Of this total, approximately 100 have been delivered to date for this global finance company. Other orders during September were Air One's purchase of five A320s, Alafco's order for four A320s, the four A318 corporate aircraft ordered by three different unannounced private customers, and two A340-500s for Arik Air (a new Airbus customer in 2008). Deliveries during the month were paced by the single-aisle A320 Family, with customers receiving every type in the product line: the A318, A319, A320 and A321. The deliveries were with aircraft for Afriqiyah Airways, Air China, AirAsia, Avianca, British Airways, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, CIT Leasing (for Juneyao Airlines and Qatar Airways), CZA Czech Airlines, easyJet, GECAS (for Aeroflot, East Star Airlines and Juneyao Airlines), GO AIR, ILFC (for Shenzhen Airlines), IndiGo, jetBlue Airways, Lan Airlines, TAM-Linhas Aereas, Turkish Airlines, US Airways, and a private customer. Widebody deliveries included the first A380 for Qantas Airways and the sixth A380 for Singapore Airlines; along with A330-200s to CIT Leasing (for Air Europa), Jet Airways and Avianca; one A330-300 for China Southern Airlines; and an A340-500 for Arik Air. Embraer Bombardier I HAVE SLOW INTERNET SO I CANT DO REST AND any useful links

Found on A.NET About a month ago my family and I travelled from Miami to Guayaquil, Ecuador with our dog, a 2 year old labrador retriever. We travelled with the dog because my mom was moving back to Ecuador after 3 years living in Florida. normally we would have travelled on AA, considering it is the only non-stop flight and my mom wanted the dog to be the less amount of time flying (LAN makes a stop in Quito), but since my step father was flying on LAN, we decided to fly them, and risk the stop over in UIO. We were checked in on the Business Class counters since my step father was flying on J, and all our 10 bags got priority tags. That calmed my mom a little, since she was extremely nervous about the dog, and the stop over in Quito. The agent who checked us in was extremely friendly and assured us that the dog will arrive to Guayaquil (...) When we got to our gate, J16 , and there was another LAN flight, 15 min apart from ours, heading to Punta Cana, sitting at gate J18 right next to our plane. We boarded the plane and heard a little kid say '' look dad there's a dog in that prison!'' We were so relieved by that comment, and wanted to actually see the dog being loaded into the plane but we were in the middle and couldn't see anything. We took off and I slept throughout the whole flight up until we were descending towards UIO. The plane touched down really hard, and my mom began to worry about the dog. The plane parked at the gate and passengers flying to GYE were asked to reamain on board, my mom got up and went directly to a F/A and asked her to check the dog, since she was concerned about the hard landing. A couple of minutes later the F/A came and said '' I checked your dog , he is fine'' Again we were relieved. When we landed in GYE we ran to go see the dog, since the poor thing had been on a plane for 6 hours, we reached the baggage claim area and my mom went directly to the area were the bags get offloaded from the cart onto the belt. 10 minutes passed and my mom started to get real anxious and crossed the belt onto the ramp! I couldnt believe what I was seeing but I think she actually loves the dog more than she loves me lol. I could hear her asking where was the damn dog and the guy asked the man to go to the plane and bring the dog as fast as he can. 5 min later the guy came and said '' No ha llegado ningun perro'' (No dog has arrived) My mom started yelling and came back onto the belt area and started yelling and crying, everybody stared at us and I could hear them whisper ''Their dog didn't arrive'' My mom left my step father (with our 10 pieces of luggage) and started running towards the exit. I went running after her and my sister met with her at the exit, where my mom started to cry and yell even more. We went running to the LAN check in desks and my mom crying kept asking where was our dog. the lady rudly said '' I'm not helping you until you calm down'' I asked for the person in charge and she said I had to go to their offices on the second level. We thought the dog got offloaded from the plane in UIO, so my mom ran to TAME's ticket counter and bought two tickets to Quito for 62$ each. We ran to LAN's offices and had to wait until the person in charge of luggage finishes with the flights, while my mom cried as if her kid had just died, and started calling everybody. When the woman arrived my mom started yelling '' Where is my dog?!'' and the woman said she was going to call UIO so they can retrieve the dog. 10 minutes later the woman came back and said '' The dog is not in Quito, he's in Miami'' My mom went crazy and started demanding a ticket for LAN's flight to MIA which was to depart in 2 hours, and the lady said '' We can't do that because the dog is not our responsibility'' My mom went crazy and started yelling '' HOW IS HE NOT YOUR RESPONSIBILITY...!'' They kept arguing and my mom called my aunt in Miami so she can go get the dog , and threatened to sue the company for all they did. We went downstairs where we met with my step father ( No idea how he made it with the 10 overweight bags) started explaining to him what happened with the dog. My step father talked with the lady in charge of luggage, when suddenly she gets a call and guess what.. THE DOG IS NOT IN MIAMI. At that moment I thought my mom was about to faint, and after 4 hours looking for the dog the lady came up to us and said '' We found the dog, he is now flying to SANTIAGO DE CHILE'' Whaaaaaat I could'nt believe what I heard! My mom gave me her credit card and told me ''Go but 2 tickets to Santiago NOW'' I ran to buy two tickets for the flight which was to leave to LIM and SCL in 2 hours. The fare was about $1,400 for both tickets and then the lady explained to us that what happened was that the dog instead of being loaded onto our plane at gate J16, he was loaded onto the plane on gate J18 which left for Punta Cana and Santiago de Chile! My mom stopped crying, relieved they found the dog and then my step father started telling us it was ridiculous to fly down to Santiago, and that the lady told him the dog would fly the day after on the SCL-LIM-GYE flight. I was bummed since I wanted to go down to SCL, but I had to admit it was ridiculous, so we canceled the tickets, and went home and wait until the day after to see our dog. The flight from Punta Cana was to arrive to Santiago at 6:45pm, so at 6:30pm I called LAN's 1800 number and explained them my situation. They gave me the number to their luggage dept in Santiago and I inmediatley called them. I again explained the situation to the extremly friendly lady who was amazed at what had happened and told me to wait on the phone to check what had arrived on the flight from Punta Cana. After about 5 minutes she said '' It looks like a lost pet arrived on the flight'' I started crying of happiness and said ''Thats my dog!'' She asked me what the dog's name was and told me they were going to take care of him and put him on the flight to LIM and GYE the next morning, and that they would give the dog food and water. I could'nt stop thanking her, and she assured me they would take full care of my dog while he is in SCL. My mom called at night again the luggage dept in SCL and they told her that everybody in LAN was aware of the situation, and that they just talked with the woman who was with the dog and that the dog is very shy and calm, and that they were walking him around the airport. My mom too started crying of happiness and they told her they would take care of all the paperwork so that the dog can leave the morning after to GYE. The next morning around 10am I called LAN in SCL and a man told me '' Yes that poor dog.. We already sent him to LIM, he should be landing right now, we took full care of him, he was never alone and all the women staff came around to see the dog and kept playing with him, you know how affectionate women can be, they all fell in love with the dog, he didnt eat but drinked a lot of water, and he should be landing in GYE at 12:40pm''. Again I couldn't stop thanking him and told my mom the news. half an hour later my step father gets a call from LAN and guess what.. LIM WAS SHUT DOWN DUE TO WEATHER!.. Here we go again.. I ran to the computer and saw that the flight to GYE did take off on time, but the LAN representative who called said the flight never took off from LIM?? We called Lima and they told us the flight did take off and it was to land in GYE 1 hour late. We went to the airport, to the LAN offices where a man gave my mom a card which allowed her to go inside the airport to the baggage claim area, where she demanded to be allowed in 20 min before the flight lands. We waited for my mom to come out and prayed for her to come back with the dog, and 40 min later I saw my mom walking with the dog, but she had left the kennel inside because she was desperate to take him outside. Apparently the kennel was neither wet nor dirty so that meant that after 18 HOURS OF FLYING TIME FOR THE DOG he never peed on the kennel. We immediately gave him water and he finished up 3 entire bottles, and couldn't stop waggling his tail, the poor thing thought we abandoned him. Poor Whiskey (The main character in this story) travelled 18 hours in 2 days, was in 5 countries in 2 days, and instead of flying his planned itinerary ( MIA-UIO-GYE), he flew MIA-PUJ-SCL-LIM-GYE. The flight time from PUJ to SCL is around 8 hours, so he was alone on a dark compartment on the inside of a plane for about 18 hours. I have to say LAN has always been my favorite airline, but their staff in GYE was rude and inefficient. The only thing that keeps them to be my favorite airline was their staff in SCL. All the time they were extremely helpful and took care of all the paperwork in order for the dog to leave Chile, and for that I'll always be loyal to LA. The SCL staff were the real heroes on this tragedy, and because of them the dog arrived safely to GYE. What I wanted to know was if we were entitled to something for everything that happened? We paid 250$ for the dog to travel, are we entitled to a refund? Hope you were entertained by this 'tragic' story, Cheers AA300B [Edited 2008-10-26 00:11:21] From http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/g...d.main/4191338/

1st get compensation from Airbus

Did everybody get out alive

Another one soon to bite the dust

Add Ethiopian and Arik Air since getting A345 or Even Air Astana ? Finnair SAS Swiss ?

A Qantas flight between Brisbane and Adelaide landed safely last night without using air brakes because of a problem with the wing flaps. Flight QF665 made a safe landing in Adelaide at about 10:00pm ACDT. Brian Mumford was a passenger and said the pilot announced that the landing would be faster than usual. "He said, 'Just relax, don't worry about it, everything's under control'," he said. "And once we landed, it was very fast. They just had to use their brakes to pull us up on the wheels only. Safe landing despite Qantas flap problem "And then the fire brigade were around us to make sure there was no fire on the brakes. Pilot explained Mr Mumford said the pilot then explained the problem to passengers. "He let us know that they had no flaps. They couldn't get the flaps down to land, you know, for the air brakes," he said. He said most passengers did not appear worried. "Everyone was calm and relaxed as if there was nothing happening - my wife was in my pocket," he said. Qantas responded to inquiries today with a statement, saying there was a flap indication issue which was rectified before landing. It said the flaps were left up as a precaution, which is a standard procedure. Qantas said there was no safety concern at any stage. http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/newshome/5098606

Isn't Continental going to Star

Wow you learn something new everyday

which ones are going to go bankrupt

soon there will be no drinks all to try and compete with AK

A350/787 here we come If its Malaysia boleh anybody can put winglets on a 737-400

Yes Pieter they have 767 P2-ANA and a B757 TF-FII no winglets but is going home and to be replaced by TF-FIY with winglets

When MH finally choose a350/787 A350 for me A350 as MH CAN get them for free even though I'm a 787 fan. It would put pressure on AAX to choose the a350/787. Then the public can benefit as they can fly on technological advanced aircraft.

Three Injured When Truck, Plane Collide on Chicago Runway CHICAGO — Three people were injured early Saturday after a regional jet collided with a maintenance truck on a runway at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. No passengers were aboard the United Express jet, operated by SkyWest Airlines. The plane was traveling from a hangar to a gate at O'Hare with it collided with the truck around 5 a.m., said Chicago Fire Department Chief Joe Roccasalva. The driver of the truck was extricated from the city vehicle and transported in critical condition to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. Two mechanics from the plane were transported in good condition to Resurrection Medical Center in Chicago, Roccasalva said. A runway at O'Hare was closed for less than two hours, according to Chicago Department of Aviation spokeswoman Karen Pride. Flight operations were not affected, she added. SkyWest spokeswoman Nicole Drew said investigators reviewed United surveillance footage of the incident on Saturday, but due Link http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,440465,00.html Link to the pic http://img522.imageshack.us/my.php?image=skywestordyu5.jpg

still more non aviationists still prefer 747 A380 it still uses some 747 technology 747-8 will still be the game braker once its rolled out and make the A380 anicent technology

Well If I have the money

What fleet will they have

Just to start a topic about Aitalia that will last until the death I just felt like doing this. At least MWingers will follow AZ till the death Please post anything about Aitalia's news

Anybody know what food being served donot tell me its Snack box

yes Snack box counts wink wink nudge nudge I must have to aggree with you any body in the forum can Start their own any airline to Rival MH Tht will teach them a lesson

I thought it was very old rego of the plane is VH-EGB